Nations Championship threatens Bledisloe Cup

The trophy dearest to the All Blacks next to the Webb Ellis Cup is the Bledisloe Cup, a symbol of the enduring relationship between New Zealand and Australia and a prize which often brings out the best and occasionally worst in both on the rugby pitch.

As New Zealand Rugby considers the pots of gold attached to the World Nations Championship — and the numbers really are extraordinary — the future of the Bledisloe Cup must be a significant factor in their thinking because it will be for the players and should be for fans Downunder.

The All Blacks play the Wallabies three times a year for the Bledisloe Cup (outside of World Cup years). Win two of the three tests, and the trophy is yours for the year — the All Blacks won it back in 2002 and have yet to relinquish it.

This year, with the World Cup in Japan looming in September and October, the tests will be held in Perth and Auckland in August.

Under the current World Nations proposal, all 12 nations in the competition — the Six Nations in one group and Rugby Championship countries, plus 11th-ranked Fiji and 12th-ranked Japan, in the other — play each other once before a playoff between the top-ranked teams from each group.

That means the All Blacks and Wallabies would play each other only once a year and neither nation, particularly New Zealand, is likely to be happy with that.

According to the proposal, which gained significant traction at a meeting overnight in Dublin, each nation will play a maximum of 12 tests a year should they make the final, although New Zealand Rugby boss Steve Tew hinted there could be some leeway here and thankfully that suggests the Bledisloe Cup isn’t dead just yet.

In an interview with Radio Sport’s Jason Pine yesterday, Tew said from Dublin: “We’re playing between 13 and 15 tests a year depending on which year you look at, so we would reserve the right, if there were a couple of gaps, to play another game or two depending on how this all pans out. But that’s detail we wouldn’t get to until this deal is across the line and there’s still quite a way to go.”

Rugby supporters from all over the South Pacific will hope that also extends to an intention to play more tests in the Islands. The All Blacks test in Apia against Manu Samoa in 2015 was a triumph on every level apart from financially, but a lack of dollars presumably won’t be such an issue for NZ Rugby should this concept get off the ground as slated in 2022.

With regards to scheduling and travel, Tew added: “For our guys, it’s probably going to be an improvement more than anything else, but the Northern Hemisphere players are going to have to travel more than they’re used to and they’re going to have to get their heads around that, too.”

This brings in a new point relating to the integrity of the competition, a key concern for the players. What sort of mental and physical shape are the likes of Italy and Scotland going to be in when they travel to a New Zealand winter in July if this thing kicks off ? And particularly if they have to play Australia and Fiji on their way here?

As an example, Scotland have never beaten the All Blacks and after they last toured New Zealand in 2000 (two tests only), they asked to be taken off the schedule due to their concerns about being able to compete here.

Last June, a week before the All Blacks test against France in Dunedin, the third of the series, there were still 4000 tickets available for a stadium with a capacity of 28,000, and on the night, there were lots of empty seats.

It’s difficult to imagine a test against Six Nations strugglers Italy and Scotland being much more popular to New Zealand crowds.