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Melbourne to host 2020 Bledisloe Cup clash as part of Wallaroos double-header

24th November, 2019
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24th November, 2019
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Melbourne will host a Bledisloe Cup match for the first time in ten years when the Wallabies face the All Blacks at Marvel Stadium in 2020.

While one Bledisloe match was already announced for Brisbane, Rugby Australia announced this morning that the first trans-Tasman encounter of the year will be held in the Victorian capital on Saturday, August 8.

The 2020 clash will form part of a double-header, with the Wallaroos to take on the Black Ferns beforehand. It will be the first Wallaroos game played in the city.

In a partnership with the Victorian Government, the Wallabies will play a match each year in Melbourne until 2025, when the British and Irish Lions next visit.

Rugby Australia CEO Raelene Castle said the double-header concept was a popular one.

“Our Wallaby and Wallaroo double-header events in Australia have been extremely popular with fans in Sydney in Perth and we are looking forward to staging the first ever double-header in front of packed Marvel Stadium in Melbourne,” said Castle.

“In 2019 we saw how much these events have captured the imagination of fans in both countries, with a sold-out sign at Optus Stadium in the west and again at Eden Park in Auckland a week later, and we expect there to be a lot of excitement in Melbourne to watch two fantastic Test matches.”

The announcement brings the number of confirmed Wallabies home matches for 2020 to four, with Ireland to visit Brisbane and Sydney in July, and the All Blacks to play the third Bledisloe Cup match in Brisbane in October before heading overseas for the Spring Tour.

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The Wallabies are also set to play one match against Fiji, however, the date and venue of that match, likely to be in July, is yet to be confirmed. Other home games against South Africa and Argentina in the Rugby Championship will also be announced at a later date.

Marvel Stadium, then called Etihad Stadium, last hosted an international in 2014. The 6-0 win over France is one of 19 Tests ever played at the venue, including two against the British and Irish Lions (in 2001 and 2013, both won by the Wallabies), and the 2010 Bledisloe, which was won by the All Blacks 49-28.

Victoria’s second-biggest stadium also hosted five pool matches and two quarter-finals in the 2003 Rugby World Cup, while the Wallabies hold a record of eleven wins and two losses at the ground.

2020 Wallabies fixtures

Date Fixture Venue Competition Kick-off
Jul 4 Australia vs Ireland Suncorp Stadium July Tests TBC
Jul 11 Australia vs Ireland SCG July Tests TBC
Aug 8 Australia vs New Zealand Marvel Stadium Bledisloe Cup TBC
Oct 17 Australia vs New Zealand Suncorp Stadium Bledisloe Cup TBC
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