Bledisloe I locked in at Eden Park
The first Bledisloe Cup test between the All Blacks and Wallabies is locked in for Eden Park on Saturday week but the locations and scheduling for the second and third tests remain fluid, as travel restrictions and a beer festival throw spanners in the works.
Beervana, New Zealand’s popular celebration of beer, will be held at Sky Stadium in Wellington on August 13-14, meaning that the third Bledisloe test scheduled for the capital on August 28 can’t simply be brought forward by a fortnight to the same venue.
If the All Blacks want to host back-to-back tests in New Zealand, as hinted at on Sunday by Wallabies coach Dave Rennie, an alternative location is needed.
Stuff also understands that the second Bledisloe test at Optus Stadium in Perth on August 21 is already a sell-out with a crowd of about 60,000 set to attend, delivering a much-needed injection of money for Rugby Australia.
New Zealand Rugby is working with the Government to finalise confirmation of a travel exemption for the Australian team to travel to New Zealand this week to prepare for the first test in Auckland.
‘‘We are also confident Australia will be able to remain in New Zealand to play a second Bledisloe Cup test and we’re working through the details of what that match looks like with the intention of locking in the details this week,’’ NZR general manager professional rugby and performance Chris Lendrum said yesterday.
Stuff understands that given the financial implications of that Perth fixture not going ahead, New Zealand Rugby and Rugby Australia are not currently discussing the scenario of playing all three tests in New Zealand.
However, the date of the Perth test could be moved as both unions try to build a Bledisloe series acceptable to the New Zealand Government.
The key point is whether the All Blacks and/or Australia will be given an exemption for quarantine-free travel between New Zealand and Western Australia, which has managed Covid19 in a way similar to Aotearoa and has already shut its borders to other Australian states.
It’s considered unlikely that the All Blacks and Wallabies will be allowed to fly to Perth and then return for the Wellington test.
If Perth becomes the final test of the series and the All Blacks do not get a travel exemption, they still face the possibility of having to observe two weeks of quarantine upon their return to New Zealand, something they would be desperate to avoid.
The eight-week travel bubble announced by the New Zealand Government on Friday sent both NZ Rugby and RA scrambling for a solution and may yet have significant implications for the All Blacks’ Rugby Championship campaign. The All Blacks are due to play Argentina at Eden Park on September 11, a date that falls within the eight-week window.
It’s understood the Pumas will be in New South Wales prior then, where they will see out their two-week quarantine period for the Rugby Championship.
Meanwhile veteran Australian playmaker Quade Cooper concedes he fell short in certain areas in the past and he’s determined to use his surprise Wallabies recall to ensure Australia’s brightest young stars avoid the same fate.
Cooper chatted with Rennie last week in which he agreed to link up with the squad as a training partner before flying to New Zealand. But James O’Connor’s ongoing groin issues and the cancellation of the trans-Tasman bubble led Rennie to make the decision to include Cooper in the main squad for the upcoming Bledisloe Cup and Rugby Championship series.