Twickenham may play host to the Bledisloe Cup between Australia and New Zealand after the Australian Rugby Union admitted it is exploring options to take the match abroad while Sydney’s ANZ Stadium undergoes redevelopment.
With an alternative venue in Sydney unavailable, the ARU is considering taking the fixture elsewhere in Australia but the union’s general manager, Rob Clarke, confirmed that playing at Twickenham, in what be a money-spinning repeat of the 2015 Rugby World Cup final, is a viable option.
Last week the ARU announced a loss of A$9.8m (£5.35m) for 2015 but at the same time outlined a five-year plan for growth and the appeal of staging the match at Twickenham, where demand would be high among antipodean expats, as well as domestic interest in watching the top two teams in the world rankings, is obvious.
“It is a wonderful ground and I think it would be a huge hit. We would be open-minded to that if the RFU were interested in having a discussion,” Clarke told Australia’s Daily Telegraph. “That said, we have to balance that against rewarding our fans here in Australia and giving them top-class rugby content. So we wouldn’t make that decision lightly, but it is certainly part of the framework.”
Earlier this month the RFU confirmed that Twickenham would host Argentina’s ‘home’ Rugby Championship match against Australia in October in a rerun of the World Cup semi-final and, given the potential financial boon, the governing body is likely to be similarly willing to enter discussions with the ARU.
The ANZ Stadium, built to host the athletics events and the opening and closing ceremonies at the Sydney 2000 Olympics, is due to be redeveloped in 2018 but a move to Twickenham would be unlikely to take place before 2020 as the Rugby Championship in 2019 will be truncated due to the World Cup in Japan and the Wallabies host only one Bledisloe Cup fixture the year before.
It would not be the first time the Bledisloe Cup has been staged abroad – two matches have been played in Hong Kong and one in Tokyo – and while it has proved lucrative for the ARU in the past, on each occasion it was an additional fixture to the traditional three-match series format.
Clarke also admitted the ARU is looking into hosting the fixture in New York where Saracens and London Irish recently contested the first ever Premiership match played on foreign soil. New Zealand are also due to face Ireland at Chicago’s Soldier Field in November.
“We are a global game so global opportunities will present themselves,” Clarke continued. “Argentina are playing their home game against us at Twickenham in the Rugby Championship this year, so there is a precedent there.
“We have to balance that against rewarding our fans here in Australia and giving them top-class rugby content. So we wouldn’t make that decision lightly, but it is certainly part of the framework.
“Even a city like New York, where there is a strong Australian and New Zealand expat presence, have expressed interest in getting more international rugby content. It is a consideration for us, certainly.”
