Taranaki Daily News

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- Rugby

Wellington has been confirmed as host for the World Cup preview between the All Blacks and Springboks next year.

New Zealand Rugby (NZR) has announced that the Rugby Championsh­ip test will take place at Westpac Stadium on July 27, while the All Blacks and Black Ferns will again feature in a trans-Tasman doublehead­er at Eden Park on August 17.

The Wellington test will effectivel­y be a dress rehearsal of the All Blacks and Springboks’ opening World Cup pool match in Japan in September.

With next year’s Rugby Championsh­ip condensed due to the global tournament, it will be the only chance the two teams get to size each other up ahead of the World Cup.

The Springboks will have no fears of travelling to Wellington after stunning the All Blacks 36-34 in September.

Meanwhile, the Black Ferns will again serve as the curtain-raiser against Australia at Eden Park before the All Blacks’ Bledisloe Cup clash against the Wallabies.

That will be the second of two transTasma­n double-headers next year – with the first to be played in Perth on August 10.

The internatio­nal calendar will see the Super Rugby competitio­n run uninterrup­ted through to July, with the June Internatio­nal window removed for 2019. Internatio­nal matches in 2019:

All Blacks v South Africa (Rugby Championsh­ip), Westpac Stadium, Wellington

Black Ferns v Australia (Laurie O’Reilly Trophy), Eden Park, Auckland; All Blacks v Australia (Bledisloe Cup), Eden Park

July 27:

August 17:

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