Bledisloe Cup undergoes changes as interest drop

NEWS: The historic Blesidloe Cup Series between New Zealand and Australia will undergo significant change according to reports.

The New Zealand media outlet Stuff.co.nz reported that the Trans-Tasman Series will be reduced from three Tests to just two in 2022.

The Bledisloe Cup has been played as a three-test series since 2006 – except in Rugby World Cup years – and has even been stretched out to a four-test series in some years.

However, the series, regarded as one the most famous on the rugby calendar, has lost its tenacity with the All Black dominating the one-sided affair.

All Blacks have held the trophy since regaining it from the Wallabies in 2003.

With the Wallabies failing to contest for the Cup, the interest to see the two nations play each other three times has declined each year.

The reduction in the number of Bledisloe tests in a year has been previously discussed, but New Zealand Rugby and Rugby Australia had been locked into a 10-year contract for three tests a year that was signed in 2011.

That contract ran out last year when the All Blacks hosted back-to-back tests at Eden Park in a Covid-hit schedule.

Eden Park was only half-full for the second test, won 57-22 by the All Blacks – a clear indication the series had lost at least some of its lustre.

Nonetheless, there was a strong crowd in Perth for the third Bledisloe test, and the immediate financial impact of the two-test series will be felt more keenly by Rugby Australia this year.

The Wallabies were due to host the All Blacks twice in Australia this year, but with that now off the table, they will take a commercial hit.

Source: Stuff.co.nz