‘A massive day’: Kiwis confirm support for Anzac Day Bledisloe clash

New Zealand Rugby boss Mark Robinson has confirmed the Kiwis are supportive of plans to launch an annual Bledisloe Cup clash on Anzac Day, with the fixture ideally locked in for a long period to build a “real tradition”.

Robinson’s backing came as the NZR boss, and his Rugby Australia counterpart Phil Waugh, both signalled the ANZAC Day showdown between the Wallabies and All Blacks would also see a return of a three-Test Bledisloe Cup series in 2026, after being reduced to two games in 2022.

Speaking to this masthead on the eve of a dead rubber clash between the All Blacks and Wallabies in Wellington on Saturday, Robinson said NZR and RA had held constructive talks last week in Sydney about plans to stage a Bledisloe Cup clash on Anzac Day.

The idea had been floated a decade prior without success, but was put back on the table this year by Rugby Australia as part of negotiations for the Rugby Championship to be paused in 2026 to allow All Blacks to be able to tour South Africa for an extended Test series.

This masthead revealed the WA government had tabled a substantial offer to host for the proposed Bledisloe Cup game at Optus Stadium on Anzac Day, which would also factor in Super Round in Perth on the same weekend. Both nations would make a tidy sum of money from the clash.

“We remain really open to it,” Robinson said.

Langi Gleeson carries the ball in the first Bledisloe clash in Sydney.Credit: Getty Images

“We had a great couple of days of meetings with Phil and his team in the days leading up to the Bledisloe in Sydney, and we made a lot of progress around the concept, and we’ve agreed that over the next few weeks we could go away and try and bottom out the solutions to those issues.

“You want to be able to lock it in and make it a real tradition. It’s a massive day in both countries, isn’t it, for all the reasons we know about historically, and all the service and sacrifice that’s gone into that day. So the concept, for fans, would be something that resonates strongly, and therefore you want to give it some long-term certainty. That’s certainly how we’re approaching it at the moment.”

Robinson’s public backing is significant given the NZR has traditionally been conservative, and averse to making any major changes around the All Blacks.

Other codes have well-established club fixtures built around Anzac Day, but a Bledisloe Cup on the would be the first featuring Australian and New Zealand national teams.

The All Blacks with the spoils of victory - again.Credit: Getty

Rugby Australia were initially keen to stage the game next year but Robinson said that timeframe was too rushed, given the detail to be worked through on high-performance and commercial perspectives.

“We want to understand how this concept of an Anzac Day can work, and with Super Rugby, what it means for the assembly of players into the All Blacks and Wallabies and the impact on Super Rugby teams,” he said.

“It would probably have to be reciprocal in nature so we need to look at a commercial model that factors that in, because they could be very different, largely because of the significant government funding that’s available in Australia around events.

“So we need to be all understanding and comfortable with what that means across a long period of time.
It’s a balancing act, it just takes some time to talk through these issues, but I’m sure we can find some solutions, but we just need a bit more time.“

Waugh said the two unions were working towards finalising agreement, and that the Anzac Day Bledisloe would serve to restore a third game in the series.

“If the calendar stays as it is, it would be the Anzac Bledisloe and then you’d two Bledisloes back-to-back later in the year,” Waugh said.

The ANZAC Bledisloe also has the support of players, with Wallabies captain Harry Wilson saying in Wellington: “I would love to [play in it]. I think that would be awesome for the rivalry, an having that in between in the Super season I think would be really cool.”

NZR and SARU recently signed a memorandum of understanding about eight-game tours in 2026 and 2030, which led to criticism they’ve devalued the Rugby Championship and cut Australia and Argentina adrift. But Robinson said both nations had been heavily engaged, for a number of years, in a re-shaping of their calendars that would not leave them worse off.

“We’ve worked really hard with Australia and Argentina to make sure that if you look at a five to 10-year period, there’s still plenty of high-quality rugby,” he said.

After enduring a rocky relationship with Rugby Australia when provocative Hamish McLennan was chairman, Robinson said the relationship with RA under Waugh and new chair Daniel Herbert was “highly collaborative”.

Robinson said New Zealand still highly valued Super Rugby, and rejected commentary from some New Zealand pundits that the All Blacks had been weakened by primarily playing Australian teams only. South Africa left Super Rugby during a post-COVID restructure.

“You look at the closeness of those games against South Africa recently, I mean, there’s nothing in it,” Robinson said.

“There’s always speculation around these sorts of things but … we think the rugby in the last two years has been fantastic and the players have been really well-prepared to go into the international stage. We absolutely see a future of it with Australia.”