Aussies to host Bledisloe opener

IAIN McGREGOR/Fairfax Media

GAME ON: Australia will host game one of the three-test Bledisloe Cup series every year from 2011.

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The Australian Rugby Union has snatched an early Bledisloe Cup victory, even if it wasn't claiming it.

Buried amid the detailed Super rugby expansion deal and revamped Tri-Nations series was confirmation that Australia would host game one of the three-test Bledisloe Cup series every year from 2011.

It would be a fixed early September date, aside from World Cup years when it would be played earlier.

The second test would be in New Zealand a month later in early October, with the third test the following weekend, alternating between the two countries year by year.

ARU deputy chief executive Matt Carroll insisted he and his boss John O'Neill hadn't got one over their Tasman rivals.

"That was a mutual decision, a decision supported both ways. New Zealand quite like the idea of the set dates as well and they saw the value they would get, because they will have two test matches in a row in New Zealand every second year," Carroll told reporters today.

"They probably saw a strategic rugby side of that opportunity. It was a win for everybody."

The revamped Tri-Nations schedule, agreed on at last week's Sanzar board meeting and announced today, would see the All Blacks play the Wallabies and Springboks home and away in non-World Cup years.

South Africa would host the first three Tri-Nations tests in August, before the Bledisloe opener, while the competition would end with the final two Bledisloe tests.

That was partly to accommodate the South African Rugby Union's wish to release their test players for the latter part of their domestic Currie Cup.

Carroll said a fixed date for the Bledisloe Cup opener would make it a unique event, potentially going head-to-head with week one of the National Rugby League and Australian Football League playoffs in the fiercely competitive Australian market.

"The Bledisloe in Australia each year is one of the most iconic events on the sporting calendar," he said.

"This will give us certainty, like the other codes who have their grand finals set every year, we're going to have a weekend in September with the Bledisloe.

"We're going to keep our own supporters in our rugby heartland and attract them back to the code. Rugby still has the record crowd at ANZ Stadium of any football code."

Carroll said an annual fourth Bledisloe match would be reviewed after this year's inaugural Tokyo test on October 31.

"It probably won't be played every year, it may go out to every two or three years. It's a special event we take to cities around the world."

Carroll said the 15th Super rugby team -- likely to be based in Melbourne or Gold Coast -- would be open for tender and be decided later this year by the Sanzar board. South Africa still harboured hopes of a sixth team but they would have to play in the Australian conference.

The ARU hoped the new franchise would be the first privately owned team, and potentially opened up to foreign players which would require a Sanzar rule change.

He insisted there was enough Australian player depth, but he also hoped NRL players and Europe-based Pacific Island players could be lured. A joint venture with New Zealand was another possibility, he said.

"If New Zealand wanted to open a dialogue on that opportunity we wouldn't say no," Carroll said.

-NZPA