Rugby Australia chief executive Raelene Castle says Sanzaar is looking at a domestic solution to the Vodacom Super Rugby season due to cross-border travel bans.

In the wake of the outbreak of Covid-19, Sanzaar followed the example set by other governing bodies around the world and suspended Super Rugby for the foreseeable future.

While the suspension is expected to last for longer than the rumored two weeks, there would still be the issue of how the competition would finish when it does resume.

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However, at a media conference in Australia on Tuesday, Castle said Sanzaar was looking at domestic competitions as a potential solution to the break in the season.

‘We haven’t got to a final date yet,’ Castle said.

‘That’s what all the Sanzaar nations are working together with their competition managers to see if we can find a competition that makes sense, that links into the games that have already been played, potentially gives us an outcome that allows to still play a finals series.

‘We’re working cross country from a Sanzaar perspective and are also in consultation with our broadcasters.

‘The travel restrictions mean that cross-border competition doesn’t seem realistic, so domestic obviously leads the conversation. That’s all the work we’re doing and we expect we’d be able to communicate on that in the coming days.’

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This comes after Sanzaar CEO Andy Marinos on the weekend said Super Rugby must resume in five weeks or face the season being scrapped.

Castle added that she was confident that the game would emerge stronger from the experience.

‘Yes, there’s going to be some bumps in the road, there’s no doubt about that and we ultimately might have to make some difficult decisions along the way, but the sport’s not going anywhere.

‘There’s going to be some bumpy road, but I know we will come out at the end bigger and stronger for facing the challenge.’

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