Townsville Tests for Wallabies and Wallaroos
THE Wallabies are coming to Townsville.
And there is a chance to make it an annual occurrence.
North Queensland has long been overlooked as a destination for Rugby Australia’s national side, but the Cairns Post can reveal that will change this year.
RA officials will be in town today to announce a Test match between the Wallabies and Fiji to be played on July 18.
The city had been shortSEASON-ENDING finally listed among fellow regional contenders Newcastle and Wollongong, but the allure of playing at the state-of-the-art Queensland Country Bank Stadium was too much to pass up.
It will be a fitting clash against Fiji, with the island nation involved in the last international rugby fixture held in Townsville when they played Japan during the 2003 World Cup.
For RA director of rugby Scott Johnson, the landmark clash provides a chance to
“spread the gospel” of rugby union to the regions.
“We’re certainly calling it an exciting moment, it is a good new stadium and we are very excited to be there,” he said. “We want to spread the gospel, we have great rugby history and great rugby fans in the region and from what I can tell a lot of great involvement from local rugby.
“We want to spread our game. It is a global game. We watched the Reds to Regions this year and saw the success of that. These regional towns are the start of a great sport – in all sport it is nice to go out there where the people are. It is true sporting country and that should be supported.”
It will also be a chance for the sport to drive women’s involvement in the regions, with the clash a double-header as the Wallaroos take the field against Canada.
The Townsville District Rugby Union president Gary Lewis believes the double header is the perfect plug for the women’s game.
“As you can see everyone is focused on women in sport, we want more women in our sport,” Lewis said.
“This is a great opportunity for women to see that not only can you represent (Australia) in the Olympics (in Rugby 7s), but also in the 15-a-side format. “This is absolutely fantastic. “We can continue to showcase the game to everybody.”
Lewis has implored rugby fans to pack out the QCB Stadium for the international fixture and prove to RA and government we want more Tests in North Queensland.