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Rugby Championship venues agreed - reports
By Paul Smith
Southern Hemisphere sources report that arrangements are now in place that allow the Rugby Championship to play to a conclusion.
And contrary to recent speculation, according to the New Zealand Herald, the competition will not be moved en bloc to Europe or South Africa.
The All Blacks will instead travel to Australia to play the third Bledisloe Cup match in Perth’s Opta Stadium next weekend.
They will then be joined in Queensland by the travelling South African and Argentinian teams for the rest of the Rugby Championship.
New Zealand’s governing body received fierce criticism for pulling out of last weekend’s scheduled trip to Western Australia’s capital.
NZ Rugby cited uncertainty surrounding whether Europe, Queensland or South Africa would host the four-nation tournament following outbreaks of the Delta variant as the rationale for not travelling.
Rugby Australia chief executive Andy Marinos responded with a strong statement which accused NZ Rugby of a lack of consultation.
With New Zealand's borders shut amidst a nationwide lockdown due to the most recent community outbreak, the All Blacks now face 15 weeks away from home.
Australia’s Fox Sports describes the decision to host the remainder of the tournament in Queensland as “a coup for Australian rugby.”
They go on to credit Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk as “moving heaven and earth” to secure the championship before suggesting an official announcement will be made on Tuesday.
Rugby Australia is reported to be hopeful that the Perth test will be played on either September 3 or 4 but the date is yet to be finalised due to a possible AFL clash.
This solution means the Springboks will play four tests – including their historic 100th Test against New Zealand – down under.
Fox Sports claim that four double-headers will take place between September 10 and October 3, played in Brisbane, Townsville and on the Gold Coast.
Following the Rugby Championship all four nations head north to Europe for their end of year tours.
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Latest Comments
I guess the other option would be to start ALB, he's looked good in the 12 so far when he starts and sets up those outside him. But that would mean putting the vice captain on the bench, which is unlikely. Another option would be to drop Reiko to the bench and play Proctor, though he's gone home so that's not going to happen either.
Both of those players just offer more of the soft distribution skills good centres learn from playing their careers there. Unfortunately that's what's lacking with the current combo.
Go to commentsWhatever let's see if this load of waffle is still valid in 2 years time. ABs will rise we have a lot of new talent coming through. The NPC was the highest standard for years. The game is changing to suit the fast pace we like to play. We get to play the Springboks more, including the franchises, which will make us better! Overall I am optimistic. I will add having watched the England game multiple times we made most of the play. England are an awesome physical team, but you can expect the All Blacks to get better and better at executing the chances. It could easily have been 5 tries to one instead of 3 to 1.
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