New Zealand Rugby (NZR) has confirmed the rescheduled dates for Moana Pasifika's initial two postponed games.
The expansion club were forced to wait until round three for their official debut after COVID derailed their campaign.
This will see them play two mid-week games against the Blues at Mt Smart Stadium on Tuesday 29 March and the Chiefs at FMG Stadium Waikato on Tuesday 12 April.
“It was always our intention to reschedule the matches and it’s a great result for the integrity of the competition," NZR General Manager Professional Rugby & Performance Chris Lendrum said in a statement.
"Everyone wants to see every team play each other and it also means Moana Pasifika, the Gallagher Chiefs, and their fans, have home fixtures to look forward to - hopefully with fans.
“We acknowledge the short turnarounds are not ideal, but we believe we’ve reached the best possible outcome in terms of fairness and player welfare.
"The basic principle was to reschedule the matches in weeks where the Blues or Gallagher Chiefs were already playing Moana Pasifika. This means the teams will play each other twice in a week, but they will all have the same rest period between matches.”
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Moana Pasifika will now have the bye round in Round 8, which sits inbetween the two mid-week games.
The rescheduled matches ensure the Highlanders' Round 9 match against the Hurricanes at Forsyth Barr Stadium will be moved forward a day.
NZR confirmed they will look into rescheduling their third game after this week's clash with the Hurricanes was postponed after an outbreak in the Hurricanes camp.
“Moana Pasifika have been desperately unlucky with a third postponed match against the Hurricanes this weekend, but that’s COVID. I can only applaud the club for the way they have dealt with adversity, and I think that character showed when they took the field for the first time last week," Lendrum added.
