I'm pretty sure Pragnell has said that the AWs will play in Christchurch once Te Kaha is completed.
In NZF's defence the long travel distance to NZ, and locked in need to play Friday and Monday each window does cause issues.
And yeah Baze likely wants to maximise on the grass training time as the big dance very quickly approaches. You fly Auckland to another city domestically you lose at least one training session. That won't matter at all as the AWs just play friendlies post the WC until about 2028 (even 2029).
It might be that going forward that games get split ChCh and Auckland as those two cities have the most international flight connections, ie Welly misses out.
In NZF's defence the long travel distance to NZ, and locked in need to play Friday and Monday each window does cause issues.
And yeah Baze likely wants to maximise on the grass training time as the big dance very quickly approaches. You fly Auckland to another city domestically you lose at least one training session. That won't matter at all as the AWs just play friendlies post the WC until about 2028 (even 2029).
It might be that going forward that games get split ChCh and Auckland as those two cities have the most international flight connections, ie Welly misses out.
I'm guessing Tony Popovic doesn't want to maximise on the grass training time as the big dance very quickly approaches? There is always, always a throwaway reason this stuff has to be so damn Auckland centric!
Also I read Australia has one of their matchdays on a Tuesday! So much for teams getting back home soon then!