All Blacks will play US Eagles at Washington NFL stadium in October
The New Zealand All Blacks will return to the US in October, to play the USA at FedEx Field, home of the Washington NFL team.
The 23 October fixture falls a week before the Eagles face Ireland at another NFL venue, Allegiant Stadium, in Las Vegas.
The US is bidding to host the 2027 or 2031 men’s Rugby World Cup, using NFL and college stadiums. It is also bidding for the women’s tournament in 2029.
The USA v New Zealand game at FedEx – in Landover, Maryland, just outside the District of Columbia – will be played for the 1874 Cup, named for the year Harvard and McGill University, from Canada, played the first rugby game in the US.
Sam Cane, the All Blacks captain, said: “We’ve really loved it every time we have gone [to the US]. I know the team is excited about getting to America and particularly going to Washington DC for the first time.”
In 2014, the All Blacks beat the USA 74-6 in front of a sellout, 61,000 crowd at Soldier Field, home of the Chicago Bears. They returned in 2016, losing 40-29 to Ireland.
Their head coach, Ian Foster, said: “We’ve had a couple of great experiences in the US, albeit with one bad result against Ireland in 2016. But our game against the USA in 2014 was highly memorable, with real excitement from the crowd and huge interest in the All Blacks. So hopefully it’s another chance to grow the game of rugby there.”
New Zealand are ranked No2 in the world, behind South Africa. Gary Gold’s Eagles are 16th. Recent games in Europe saw them push a young England team before losing 43-29, then lose 71-10 to an Ireland team also lacking Lions players.
The US also face World Cup qualifiers this fall, hosting Canada in Glendale, Colorado on 11 September.
“It’s exciting to round out our fall Test schedule with a fixture against the All Blacks,” Gold said. “It’s no secret this team is, and has been, one of the best in the world and the opportunity to go head-to-head at home is special.”
The US professional competition, Major League Rugby, will conclude on Saturday with a championship game between the LA Giltinis and Rugby ATL from Atlanta. The game will be played at the Los Angeles Coliseum.
Washington has hosted Test rugby recently, Wales beating South Africa 22-20 in a one-off at RFK Stadium in 2018.
Gregory A O’Dell, president of Events DC, said his company was working “with our partners at Old Glory DC”, an MLR team partnered with Scot
tish Rugby, and looked forward “to attracting more world-class rugby to our nation’s capital including the Rugby World Cup”.
Deputy mayor John Falcicchio said Mayor Muriel Bowser was “excited to welcome this major international rugby Test match to Washington DC. With our championship winning teams and experience hosting major sporting events, DC is the Sports Capital. We look forward to joining residents and visitors in celebrating our rugby allstars this fall.”