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Historic match on the table for All Blacks and Fiji for 2024
By Ben Smith
NZ Rugby CEO Mark Robinson has revealed that discussions are underway for a historic first Test between the All Blacks and Fiji on Fijian soil.
He confirmed that the All Blacks will host England for two Tests in July and Fiji for one more, but floated the possibility of a rematch back in Fiji which would be a historic first.
“We’re locked into to play one in July next year at home,” Robinson said on Sky Sport NZ's The Breakdown.
“We’ve got England here for the first two games in the July series which is fantastic obviously and one game against Fiji.
“We’re working on the possibility of going back and reciprocating and playing in Fiji which would obviously be an amazing occasion but [we have] a bit of work to do before we can making any more formal announcements there.”
Fiji has played the All Blacks in New Zealand, the last of which was in 2021 with two Tests, but a sanctioned Test fixture has not occurred on Fijian soil.
A New Zealand XV team played Fiji in Fiji in 1974, 1980 and 1984, but they were not considered full internationals.
In 1984 the team featured Jock Hobbs, Murray Mexted, Wayne Smith, and Grant Fox toured for four exhibition matches, the last of which was against the Fiji national side .
A roadblock to the fixture is that it will have to be played outside the sanctioned July window, with Fiji potentially losing some of their European-based players.
In 2015 the All Blacks played a Test match in the Pacific Islands for the first time with a tough encounter with Samoa.
The All Blacks prevailed 25-16 in an absorbing fixture that stunned many with Samoa refusing to back down, staying in the contest until late when George Moala sealed the game with a try.
The form of the Fijian Drua when playing at home illustrates just how hard it is to beat the Pacific sides on home soil.
The Drua defeated the Crusaders and Hurricanes at home while last season pushed the Chiefs and Highlanders to the brink of defeat.
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Latest Comments
Ireland are entering a critical period when they will lose a lot of veteran players in the same time span G. I am not at all sure where some of the reps will come from.
France had a big chance at the 23 WC and blew it. Not all their fault, they certainly got the rough edge of he reffing v the Boks, but it will now be doubly hard to win in 27 away from home. In French club rugby that is always the biggest challenge!
Go to commentsI like the idea of 5 conferences actually, would make it a lot simpler. Each conference can have a home and away game, and then the top 2 go through for playoffs. Then it goes QFs, SF, Fs, so a total maximum of 13 games, which is a reasonable length season as well.
I think a South American conference would be best, not USA. Seasons and such, also expanding into a talent rich environment in South America. 2 or 3 Argie teams, Chile, and Uruguay. Now THAT is a sexy league.
4 conferences: NZ, AUS, PIs, and SthAm. One team for each PI, plus Moana, and Hawaii is a good idea because you can still tap into the American market a bit, just dip a toe in to see if the waters warm.
That CL Super Round sounds like a horrendous idea, very bad for the future. Will disillusion local fans, and I doubt that they will be able to sell out 50k stadiums with little local interest. Also, seems very elitist, and not in the spirit of both the game and governing body.
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