Sydney has emerged as a possible venue for Sunday’s Super Rugby Trans-Tasman match against the Melbourne Rebels.
The Rebels had been set to fly to Queenstown on Saturday morning.
However, a Covid-19 outbreak in Melbourne led to a 72-hour travel bubble pause from the city.
While that cast doubt over the game, Highlanders CEO Roger Clark remains confident it will go ahead as planned.
The Rebels relocated to Sydney yesterday and plan to fly direct from there on Saturday morning, once the 72-hour period has elapsed.
None of its players has been to the hot spots in the Melbourne outbreak, which enabled them to leave the state.
If it emerges the Rebels cannot leave Australia, the Highlanders may fly to Sydney on Saturday and the game be played there.
Cancelling the match, which would result in both teams being awarded two points, would be a last resort.
"So pack your bag for Queenstown, or pack your bag for Sydney," Clark said of the contingency plan.
"At the end of the day, we’ve got to play the game for the integrity of the competition.
"But at this stage it’s obviously more important, we’re doing everything we can because we’ve put a lot of work into this game.
"We’ve got a lot of support at every level in New Zealand to play this game and to launch Queenstown as a tourism Mecca again for the ski season.
"So we’ll be doing everything we can to make sure this game happens in Queenstown at 2.35pm on Sunday."
Ticket sales had been strong, although Clark said those had slowed since the announcement of the travel pause.
New Zealand and Australia Prime Ministers Jacinda Ardern and Scott Morrison had also been set to attend.
Queenstown mayor Jim Boult remained optimistic, although said it would be "very disappointing" if the match was not played in the resort.
"It’s just a continuation of a perfect storm for us, if that happens.
"You’re well aware of the difficulties we’ve been through the past 14 months.
"Where we had something that was really exciting, all the holes sort of lined up and we were having what would be an outstanding rugby match with two prime ministers here.
"I just can’t believe that there’s the possibility it may now be cancelled.
"It’s very disappointing, if that happens."
