Blues Fest ’23, the Super Rugby club’s pre-season festival will not be played at the Mahurangi Rugby Club as planned.
Poor weather in the region during December and into the new year prevented ground staff from being able to prepare the field, and the decision was made to move it.
Blues CEO Andrew Hore said the club was gutted it couldn’t play in Mahurangi. ‘Unfortunately, the weather has conspired against us in recent weeks and when we met with Mahurangi Rugby Club on Friday, both parties agreed the field hadn’t responded how we would’ve hoped, and the call was made to move the event.’
While disappointed with the situation, Mahurangi Council of Clubs Delegate Sam Ryburn looked forward to being able to host Blues events in the future. ‘There’s not a lot we can do, both The Blues and our club explored all the options before coming to this decision, but we’re hoping to continue our relationship with the Blues and look at future options for hosting pre-season matches.’
Blue Fest ’23 was planned for 11 Ferbuary and was to feature a full pre-season game between the Blues and Hurricanes, a ‘Game of Three Halves’ match between Northland, North Harbour and Auckland development players, and an open nib Blues women’s training session.
A decision on a new location will be made and communicated over the next few days.
