Queensland confirmed as host for remainder of The Rugby Championship

The remainder of The Rugby Championship will be played in Brisbane, the Gold Coast and Townsville and, in an unlikely twist, the centenary Test between the All Blacks and Springboks will be played at the latter’s Queensland Country Bank Stadium.

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk confirmed the news at her daily COVID-19 press conference on Tuesday morning.

Sources with knowledge of the situation told the Herald the Queensland government gave Rugby Australia approval to host South Africa and Argentina in ‘managed isolation’ on Tuesday morning.

The Springboks and Pumas will arrive in Queensland on Friday.

“We thought last year was tough when we had to implement a Tri Nations tournament in Australia with South Africa absent due to the pandemic, but the current disruption caused by the Delta variant of COVID-19 has seen government authorities tighten up border bio-security measures substantially,” SANZAAR chief executive Brendan Morris said.

“This is understandable and therefore, we had no option but to basically move the remainder of The Rugby Championship to Queensland.”

Four Queensland double-headers will keep The Rugby Championship in the southern hemisphere.Credit:Getty

Four double-headers will be played between Sunday, September 12 and October 2.

Cbus Super Stadium, Suncorp Stadium and Queensland Country Bank Stadium will host the four match days.

The tournament will start on the Gold Coast before moving to Brisbane, heading north to Townsville and then returning to the Gold Coast in October.

The schedule will see the 100th Test between the All Blacks and Springboks - which New Zealand were desperate to play on neutral ground - take place at Queensland Country Bank Stadium.

The Rugby Championship schedule

Round One

Sat 14 August: New Zealand 57 v Australia 22 at Eden Park, Auckland

Sat 14 August: South Africa 32 v Argentina 12 at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, Port Elizabeth

Round Two

Sat 21 August: Argentina 29 v South Africa 10 at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, Port Elizabeth

Date TBC: Australia v New Zealand - Optus Stadium, Perth*

Round Three

Sun 12 September: New Zealand v Argentina at Cbus Super Stadium, Gold Coast

Sun 12 September: South Africa v Australia at Cbus Super Stadium, Gold Coast

Round Four

Sat 18 September: Argentina v New Zealand at Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane

Sat 18 September: Australia v South Africa at Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane

Round Five

Sat 25 September:  Australia v Argentina at Queensland Country Bank Stadium, Townsville

Sat 25 September: New Zealand v South Africa at Queensland Country Bank Stadium, Townsville

Round Six

Sat 2 October: Argentina v Australia at Cbus Super Stadium, Gold Coast

Sat 2 October: South Africa v New Zealand at Cbus Super Stadium, Gold Coast

*doubles as third Bledisloe Cup match

^kick off times and match order to be confirmed

“This is a world rugby first and a truly special celebration of the game, in what I see as a once-in-a-lifetime event,” RA chief executive Andy Marinos said.

“We can’t thank Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk enough, as well as Queensland Chief Health Officer Dr Jeannette Young and John Lee of the Department of Tourism, Innovation and Sport and their respective departments for their support in making this tournament possible.”

While the remainder of The Rugby Championship schedule has been confirmed, RA and New Zealand Rugby are still yet to sign off on a date for the final Bledisloe Cup match.

The governing bodies have agreed to play the match in Perth next weekend, but the AFL have not yet released Optus Stadium.

While neither West Coast nor Fremantle will feature in the finals, the loser of the two qualifying finals matches this weekend may want to play their home game in week two at the Perth ground.

Fans who purchased tickets to any of the Tests originally scheduled for Sydney, Newcastle and Canberra will be refunded.

Sports news, results and expert commentary. Sign up for our Sport newsletter.

Watch every match of the Bledisloe Cup and The Rugby Championship with live, ad-free and on-demand coverage only on Stan Sport.

Sam Phillips is a sports reporter for The Sydney Morning Herald.

Share this post