The Crusaders have offered fans who have booked flights to the United States for next month's match against English champions Saracens a free season ticket after the fixture was cancelled.
The match, dubbed the "Hemisphere Cup", was scheduled to take place at the Superdome in New Orleans on August 1st but in a statement the Crusaders said the match has been called off.
The Crusaders chief executive Hamish Riach said "this is obviously a disappointing outcome, given that we had received all assurances up until this point that the game would proceed."
The Crusaders match at the Superdome has been cancelled. Photo: Photosport
"The decision is out of our hands though, so we have no choice but to accept that result and move on," he said.
"Our main concern now is around whether there may be Crusaders fans here who had already booked tickets to attend the game. We would urge people to direct any queries about the cancellation of the game to the match organisers, RugbyLaw.
"We would also like to personally acknowledge how disappointing this news will be to any of our local fans who may have already booked flights to New Orleans, so we are asking any Christchurch-based fans in this position to contact us so that we can thank them for their support with a season's pass to the 2016 Crusaders home games."
No explanation has yet been given for the cancellation but a match involving English club Leicester set for Philadelphia on August 8th was also cancelled last week with RugbyLaw saying national governing body USA Rugby had "refused to sanction" it.
