New Zealand Rugby have issued a statement, which confirms that there will be a shot clock at Eden Park for the All Blacks vs England second Test this Saturday. There has been a great deal of conversation regarding the shot clock, after All Blacks fly half Damian McKenzie had his kick at goal timed out in the first Test in Dunedin.
However, a shot clock was not present upon the big screens of the Forsyth Barr Stadium, and McKenzie was left frustrated following a unique error by the Chiefs man. The halfback owned the mistake in the post match media, stating that he would have to be faster next time. However, the upcoming Test at Eden Park will have a clock in play for both McKenzie and Marcus Smith, with the news confirmed in the following NZR statement.
“NZR can confirm that there will be a shot clock shown on the stadium big screen and broadcast for this weekend’s Test match in Auckland. This will also be in-place for all home Test matches in 2024. The current process using the referee to communicate with the kicker has been successfully used in Super Rugby Pacific for the past two seasons and continues to be an effective way to monitor the time.”