Invercargill's role as a Super Rugby venue has been short-lived, with NZ Rugby deciding Dunedin is better suited to help host opening matches for the competition's Queenstown stint.
This weekend, the six NZ-based Super Rugby Pacific squads will move into isolated bubbles at Queenstown, where they'll remain for the opening three rounds of the competition to mitigate the risk of COVID-19 disrupting the schedule.
NZR announced its plan to play night matches at Invercargill's Rugby Park, with day matches played at Wakatipu Rugby Club.
The decision to use Invercargill's Rugby Park was based on its floodlight system, which was seen as the best option for broadcast-standard lighting.
But after further conversations between the teams and NZR, it was agreed the facilities at Dunedin's Forsyth Barr, which include the roof option, make it a superior option for night matches.
Teams will bus from their Queenstown bubbles to play the Dunedin-based games and return the same night. Travelling to Dunedin rather than Invercargill adds 1h 10m to that journey, plus return.
"Under current COVID-19 regulations, it would only take one positive case entering a squad environment to shut down an entire squad for 10 days," NZ Rugby head of professional rugby Chris Lendrum says.
"The knock-on effect for the rest of the competition would be the postponement or cancellation of matches.
"By moving the teams to a secure hub, we believe we have a good chance of preventing a COVID-19 infection or close-contact event sidelining one of our teams for a prolonged period."
Super Rugby Pacific begins with a clash between the Blues and newcomers Moana Pasifika on February 18.
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