IS the finish line in sight?
Or is it getting further away?
It depends on where the Covid-19 race is being run. If the track is Aotearoa - New Zealand along with the Pacific Islands, and possibly Australia, then the finish line is in sight. If the track is the "Rest of the World" (with a few exceptions) then it seems to be getting further away.
The rollout of the vaccine here will reduce the danger of this serious disease developing and go a long way to ring-fencing our country against the risk it presents.
But what happens if there's another outbreak as there has been in Melbourne this week?
There's no doubt that proportionate short term and measured solutions as we've seen since the major lock-down last year will ensure we continue to lead the way in our Covid-19 response.
As much of the world battles to combat the pandemic we should be thankful that we live where we do.
***
WHY would Team New Zealand get ahead of themselves and start planning for the next America’s Cup before the current one has been done and dusted?
All the talk about what the outfit will do in the future has been centre-stage despite not having defended the America’s Cup.
Is Team New Zealand so dominant that a crushing win is a foregone conclusion? Is the outfit so strong that the Old Mug can be locked away at the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron?
Surely the Grand Dalton led organisation wouldn’t want to get too carried away and go off early.
We’ve seen that before.
***
RUGBY officials won’t rule out more changes in order to speed the game up and make it “more fan friendly and easier to watch.”
Two new innovations – the goal-line drop-out and captain’s referral – will be introduced for Super Rugby Aotearoa this season.
A media release from NZR (New Zealand Rugby) this week outlined: “A goal line drop-out will occur when an attacking player carrying the ball is held up in the in-goal or knocks the ball on in the in-goal area, or when an attacking kick, other than a penalty or drop goal attempt, is grounded by the defending team in their in-goal area.
“A captain’s referral will see each captain given one opportunity per match to ask the referee to have the Television Match Official (TMO) check for an infringement in the lead up to a try, or to review foul play.”
Sources close to the NZR High Performance team believe more innovations, primarily seen in the NRL (National Rugby League), will be introduced.
“The two changes introduced this week have been taken directly from the NRL and we’re keen to integrate more of those wonderful innovations from across the Tasman into our game in order to make it more watchable,” the source said.
“Our focus groups have told us they enjoy watching league more than the 15-man-code so we’re keen to explore more ways of streamlining our game.”
Reducing team numbers to 13 on-field players per side, ensuring any player can form a scrum and eliminating lineouts will be trialled.
A spokesperson for NZR Ms Nomore Scrummagin would not elaborate other than to say: “We are engaging with our stakeholders, broadcast partners and American hedge funding consultants as to the way forward.
“We will not be making further comments unless we need to.”
