Wallabies confirm home fixtures for 2018 Rugby Championship

@mishka. NZ don't leave the comfort of Australasia until round 5. Let's do the maths for the first four rounds - NZ will play Round 1 in Sydney 3.5 hours flight from Auckland, Round 2 is in Auckland 3.5 hours return, Round 3 Nelson 1.5 hours domestic flight from Auckland, Round 4 Wellington drive (and ferry) from Nelson. That's a total of 3 flights and 9 hours. Argentina will play Round 1 in South Africa 18 hours flight from BA, Round 2 in Buenos Aires 18 hours return, Round 3 Gold Coast 18.5 hours flight Round 4 fly Gold Coast to Nelson 6 hours total (across 2 flights). That's a total of 5 flights and 60.5 hours!!! Why is NZ given the same easy start every tournament? Year after year. They don't need any extra help. Reverse the draw and put them on the road to Africa and Argentina in round 1 and 2, not 5 and 6. Just sayin'

Ehhh...the ABs travel to Sydney first game - thats travel and home game advantage to Aus...

Good ideas K. We need a negotiator who will stand up to the Kiwis. Maybe Kearns would, just like he showed Fitzpatrick the finger after scoring that try all those years ago.

@Fiery Frank. I agree 100%. Rugby's administrators need to react faster generally, to keep things interesting, but they could begin by doing these two easy things - 1) Reverse the order of The Rugby Championship matches so that NZ has to travel at the beginning of the tournament. Under the current draw NZ has won the tournament by round 4, before playing an away games (when they play in Sydney it's front of a bunch of kiwi expats and after a leisurely 3 hour flight). Meanwhile Argentina has legged it around the planet a couple of times. Flip this around. Send NZ to Buenos Aires and Jo'burg to kick things off. And then, make them play us in Perth instead of Sydney. 2) Rugby Championship tests need to stand on their own merit now and not be associated with the Bledisloe Cup, which is becoming devalued by multiple years of dead rubbers. Just change the tournament format like this - - First two tests NZ V Australia = The Rugby Championship. - Third test becomes a one-off winner takes all massive annual test match for the Bledisloe Cup. Still 3 annual tests between NZ and Australia. No additional cost. No more dead rubbers! Increased interest. Just a simple logical admin change.... Get on with it!!!!

How dumb is it to continue " the tradition" that starts the RC with two games v the ABs. The tradition is that we lose these games and thus any chance of winning the RC is gone after two weeks. Interest in the RC goes down the gurgler at this point and any chance of good crowds goes with it. Simple solution would be to play the second game at the latter end of the tournament and keep the tournament alive and give our boys a real source of motivation.

seeing as this won't be mentioned in an article https://www.perthnow.com.au/sport/rugby-union/rugby-australia-emails-show-western-force-didnt-stand-a-chance-ng-b88678742z

Well most of the team is there now I suppose.

Bottom line is Cheik has to go or risk the worst ever WB run in history

All tests are cash cows. All levels of Australian rugby rely on Wallaby revenue.

Why would there be any Force fans in Melbourne?

So none for Melbourne or Canberra either.

TWAS, you are right, but still irrelevant. By your Logic there should only be tests as Suncorp and Aliance. The trains to Robina will be running back to back ferrying pissed punters back to Brisbane from the gold coast. If you want to grow a game, you need to spread the game.

8,000 more than in Melbourne.

So "sharing" the Argentina test around is a criteria.....only at the RA.

Timbo to expect strategic thinking from TWAS or the RA is too much to ask. The RA view is that WA is a cash cow "there is no prospect of growth and needs to be bled to death". The fact is that is one of the fastest growing areas for rugby union and should actually attract investment. To expect TWAS and RA to think strategically and beyond their East State bias is too much to ask.

TWAS, the historical South African sides were good #1 or #2 in the world, the current side is lucky to be #5. A test against England or Ireland will draw bigger crowds.

Will not be surprised if this agreement is honoured. If I am WA I will hold on to the $5 million as long as possible that we paid to host this test. RA will pay Melbourne to host it.

I get that States pay the ARU to get games, and It makes the game the money, but I feel it is hurting the code in this country by having a fixture based around Sydney and Brisbane. 2 games in SEQ within 7 days? Seems silly. The Wallabies kicking off against the All Blacks, again, in Sydney, again, up against the AFL and NRL at the end of their seasons, again. Another Wallabies loss, again. Another June test in Melbourne, again. No game at Adelaide Oval. No game at a brand new Perth Stadium. 6 games this winter, spread then across the 5 major capitals, Sydney picking up a second test. Then next year, the Wallabies play different nations in different cities. Which should happen, because the AB play in Perth. I would of had something like this. Vs Ireland at Perth Stadium, Adelaide Oval and SFS. ( Day games) Vs All Blacks at Stadium Australia. Vs South Africa at Lang Park. Vs Pumas at Melbourne Rectangular Stadium.

everyone? what all 8,000 force fans? lol

Huh? I'm not criticising the decision, I'm disagreeing with Davo's rationale for it. I'm sure RA haven't scheduled any games in WA next year because it would have been ridiculous to do so, not because they'd be worried about the reception. It would have always been too late to change the Test this year by the time the decision was made, but not next year. I can't work out why they aren't trying to unwind the contract for the Bledisloe in 2019 though.