"We haven't given up all hope" - NZR on All Blacks' remaining home tests

The chances of the All Blacks playing another test in New Zealand this year appear slim with New Zealand Rugby CEO Mark Robinson saying they haven't 'given up all hope' but it is a challenging situation due to the Covid-19 restrictions.

The All Blacks disbanded on Sunday following the second Bledisloe Cup test win to spend a week with their families before departing this Sunday for potentially three months away from home.

They face the Wallabies on August 28 and could potentially have four more games in Australia before heading to the USA and Europe.

New Zealand Rugby has already moved two home tests against the Pumas to Australia and unless the transtasman bubble miraculously opens in the next month - a faint prospect as Covid cases in New South Wales surge - they will be forced to play two tests against the Springboks, including the 100th scheduled for Dunedin, on Australian soil too.

Robinson told Sky's The Breakdown that the side will depart for Australia not knowing if they will be returning home to face the Springboks.

"There's lots of different advice we are getting and lots of different speculation around what might be able to happen around those two test matches. We would dearly love those two games against the Springboks to be played at the end of September and the start of October here in New Zealand.

"We all recognise the significance of those games and the huge amount of importance they have over the legacy and the rivalry for so long that we're doing everything possible to try and make that happen and we haven't given up all hope. The reality is we are living in really challenging times, we do certainly respect the role the government has to balance this incredible tricky situation of the outright passion and love that Kiwis have of sport in our country with the fact we have to keep out borders safe.

"We will continue that dialogue, we are certainly having regular conversations with all the key agencies around trying to bring some form of rugby back into New Zealand before the end of the year but as things stand now it's challenging. We haven't had formal advice around not being able to do that yet so until we receive that we'll be working really hard to try and do everything we can to bring rugby back here before the end of the year.

"We had a good session with the team and management yesterday to communicate what we do know and what we are able to give certainty around and what still remains uncertain. At this stage the team gets on a plane on Sunday, we are hoping to play as much of the rugby as we possibly can in Perth and we're just waiting on final confirmation from Rugby Australia and Sanzaar who are working really hard right across Australia with the dates we're hoping to play and we are hoping to get some confirmation around those possible venues in the coming days.

"If we're unable to come back into the country we'll have to consider carrying on from Australia towards the Northern Hemisphere tour but we won't know exactly how that is going to play out for a little while yet," he added.

Robinson also defended the decision to play Saturday's second test at Eden Park for the second straight week, with 25,000 fans turning up, around half the size of the crowd the week before. It meant the rare sight of empty seats in a home test against Australia.

"Ultimately it was our decision along with Rugby Australia and Sanzaar in terms of the allocation of the ground. We obviously worked as hard as we could for as long as we could to have the game staged in Wellington but ultimately because of the late change of the test schedule and the time it took us to reschedule the game from the 21st to the 28th in Perth meant we didn't have much time to work with so ultimately we chose Eden Park. There are a number of logistical and commercial realities around that decision as well along with the timing. So that's how the decision came about.

"The crowd, given we had eight or nine days to promote the game and sell tickets for the game. We are pleased we got 25,000 people there and delighted with the people that did turn out and show their support. Would have we liked more? Obviously. It would have been nice to have more people turn up to the game but given all the challenges…we have to recognise we are living in extraordinary times and that's the result we came up with.

Black Ferns player Chelsea Alley was a guest host on The Breakdown and asked Robinson about the status of games for the New Zealand women's team who haven't played a test in two years. They are scheduled to face Australia on September 25 and October 2 but the fate of those games is similar to the All Blacks matches against South Africa.

"We're certainly doing everything we possibly can to support the women's game at international level….similar to where the All Blacks are at with those two games on those same two weekends the Black Ferns were due to play the Wallaroos. The same challenges exist around trying to play those two games as well," Robinson said.

"We are looking at contingency around a possible domestic fixture to replace the Wallaroos if we need to. Hopefully we are only a couple of days away from announcing what the end of year tour looks like for the Black Ferns and really committed to getting that tour away for the team and provide some international competition in the northern hemisphere."