Wallabies to host All Blacks in Melbourne in Bledisloe opener

The Wallabies and Wallaroos will play a double-header at Marvel Stadium, Melbourne on Saturday 8 August in 2020, bringing the Bledisloe Cup to Melbourne for the first time since 2010. 

Australia’s women’s side the Wallaroos will host New Zealand’s Black Ferns prior to the men’s game between the Wallabies and All Blacks on Aug. 8.

The match will be the first on Australian soil in the 2020 Rugby Championship and Bledisloe Cup, as the Wallabies kick off a new era under newly-appointed Head Coach, Dave Rennie. 

The Wallabies and All Blacks have met on only four previous occasions in the Victorian capital, dating back to 1997 when New Zealand prevailed 33-18 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. The two teams returned to the MCG in 1998 and 2007, where the Wallabies were victorious on both occasions in two of the more memorable Australian victories in Series history. 

Marvel Stadium hosted the two nations for the first time 2010 and is now set to stage the Bledisloe Cup in the first encounter for both nations under the direction of new Head Coaches following the departures of Michael Cheika and Steve Hansen.

Rugby Australia Chief Executive, Raelene Castle said: “Our Wallaby and Wallaroo double-header events in Australia have been extremely popular with fans in Sydney in Perth and we are looking forward to staging the first ever double-header in front of packed Marvel Stadium in Melbourne. 

“In 2019 we saw how much these events have captured the imagination of fans in both countries, with a sold-out sign at Optus Stadium in the west and again at Eden Park in Auckland a week later, and we expect there to be a lot of excitement in Melbourne to watch two fantastic Test matches."