Oceania under-20 tournament joins list of cancelled events

WELLINGTON (Reuters): The novel coronavirus outbreak has claimed another sporting victim, with organisers cancelling the under-20 Oceania rugby union championship that was due to start next week in Australia.The tournament, involving teams from Australia, New Zealand, Fiji and Japan, was due to be held at Bond University in Queensland from 27 May-6 June, Oceania Rugby said in a statement.Travel and quarantine restrictions and a lack of adequate player preparation time led to the cancellation, and the tournament joins a long list of sporting leagues and events globally that have been affected by the outbreak.

World Rugby earlier cancelled the under-20 World Cup that was due to be held in Italy from 28 June and last week postponed all senior international matches that had been scheduled for the July test window.