Bledisloe Cup match planned for MCG ahead of 2027 World Cup

The Bledisloe Cup is already gone – again – but 2027 could provide the Wallabies with their best chance to end the drought in many years, with plans for a blockbuster trans-Tasman clash in front of 90,000-plus fans at the MCG to bolster an already advantageous schedule for Australia.

The Wallabies and the All Blacks will do battle at Accor Stadium on Saturday in the second game of a two-Test series, the Kiwis having already retained the Bledisloe Cup for the 24th straight year with their 50-19 win at Eden Park at the weekend.

The Bledisloe Cup series will return to three games next year, for the first time since 2021, after the addition of the inaugural Anzac Day Test. The historic game will be staged at Suncorp Stadium, in the middle of the Super Rugby season.

In an unusual twist, however, the second Test will also be in Australia on July 31, as part of the Rugby Championship. The tournament is usually truncated in a World Cup year, but it is being run in full in 2027 due to the World Cup’s later start date.

Rugby Australia and the Victorian government are in the final stages of negotiations for the second Bledisloe Cup clash to be played at the MCG, according to informed sources unable to comment publicly due to commercial sensitivities.

As witnessed by the past two Wallabies fixtures at the MCG, against New Zealand in 2023 and the British and Irish Lions in 2025 (which drew 83,944 and 90,302 respectively), the Bledisloe clash would attract a huge crowd.

Home support not withstanding, the scheduling of the Bledisloe Cup series means the Wallabies will have no excuses about having to win a game in New Zealand to wrestle back the famous silverware, which Australia has not held since 2002. The Wallabies haven’t won a game in New Zealand since 2001.

The third game will be played in New Zealand, at a yet-to-be-determined venue. Even if it is held at Eden Park, where the Wallabies haven’t won since 1986, the first two games being played in Australia provides the Wallabies with a rare opportunity to win back the Bledisloe before they even set foot in New Zealand.

Suncorp Stadium has been one of the Wallabies’ happiest hunting grounds against the All Blacks, the Kiwis having won only one of five matches there since 2011. The Wallabies beat the Kiwis there in their past two visits, in 2020 and 2017, lost by a point in 2014, drew in 2012 and won in 2011.

Australia also have a decent strike rate at the MCG, with two wins from four Tests.

But home ground advantage is one thing; making the most of it is another. The Wallabies would still have to beat the All Blacks in two consecutive games to seize back the Bledisloe Cup, something they haven’t done since 2001.

And winning just one Test match against the All Blacks is hard enough. The Wallabies are on an unprecedented 12-match losing streak to the Kiwis, dating back to the last win in 2020.

Rugby Australia announced the fixtures for the 2027 Rugby Championship late last month, with the Wallabies taking on Argentina in Sydney and Townsville in July, before playing home and away and Tests against the Kiwis. Les Kiss’ men will then travel to South Africa in August for two Tests, before finishing their World Cup preparations with a clash against Ireland in Canberra on September 18.

The Wallabies’ World Cup campaign begins on October 1 in Perth against Hong Kong China, before they meet the All Blacks for a fourth time in the year, in a pool stage clash in Sydney.

The massive Bledisloe Cup clash in Melbourne, just eight weeks out from the start of the World Cup, will go some way to appeasing the local rugby community, who were left gutted when the state missed out on major games in the tournament due to messy negotiations between the Victorian government and World Rugby.

Victoria government officials and rugby figures initially lobbied World Rugby to host the World Cup semi-finals and the final at the MCG, but talks broke down, and were only restored at the 11th hour. Melbourne salvaged eight games, six pool games and two round of-16 play-offs, but they will all be played at Marvel Stadium.

The possibility of the Wallabies-All Blacks pool game being played at a full MCG was also lost, due to the Victorian government’s deal with the US’s National Football League. The MCG’s availability could not be guaranteed in October 2027, due to an exclusive clause in a deal between the Victorian government and the NFL.

Staging the 2027 Bledisloe Cup game at the MCG would give Melbourne a prize fixture, however, and RA could bank up to $10 million, according to industry sources who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

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