All Blacks to host back-to-back Bledisloe Cup Tests

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The Wallabies are facing the prospect of playing two consecutive Bledisloe Cup Tests in New Zealand before taking on the All Blacks in Perth in a condensed schedule to accommodate Covid-19 travel restrictions.

The All Blacks were initially scheduled to host the Wallabies in Auckland on 7 August, before traveling to Perth for the second Test on 21 August and then back home to Wellington for the third Cup clash on 28 August.

But following the New Zealand government’s suspension of its quarantine-free travel bubble with Australia for at least eight weeks on Friday in response to the latter’s escalating coronavirus outbreak, the Wallabies are now likely to play Tests in New Zealand on 7 and 14 August 7, before flying to Perth for the remaining match a week later, with Wellington now said to miss out.

The Wallabies, who have not won the Blesdisloe Cup since 2002, are opposed to playing all three Tests on New Zealand soil, with coach Dave Rennie ruling that possibility.

“We’ve talked about being prepared to be flexible and play on the 14th in New Zealand so that’s one of the likely outcomes but there’s certainly no option to play all three Tests in New Zealand,” Rennie said on Sunday.

“It’s unlikely that the Wellington Test will be played on the 28th with us all going to Perth and then have to come back, so we could be playing seventh, 14th and 21st, with the last one in Perth.

“Nothing is confirmed, there’s a lot of tickets being sold for Auckland and Perth that’s probably set in concrete and it’s just whether both parties can make the 14th work.

“Our mindset is to win a Bledisloe in you have to win at least one in NZ to give us a chance in Perth so nothing changes really.

“We have been constantly Covid tested twice a week for the last few weeks and we’ll test again today, we’ll test again on Wednesday and likelihood is will travel Friday,” Rennie said.

“So we’ll be over there for eight days out from the first Test.”

Photo: Getty Images

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SA Rugby magazine