Rugby 2020: New Townsville stadium to host Wallabies Test

Townsville has finally landed itself back on the international rugby union map with an announcement today set to confirm the city’s new stadium will host the Wallabies in July.

Townsville’s new stadium has landed a prime rugby Test with the Wallabies to meet Fiji on July 18.

Today’s announcement by Rugby Australia will bring the first Test to Townsville since the 2003 Rugby World Cup in another major win for regional Australia.

Watch every match of the 2020 Vodafone Super Rugby Season LIVE & On-Demand on KAYO. New to Kayo? Get your 14-day free trial & start streaming instantly >

The recent announcement that Newcastle will host the Wallabies’ Test against Argentina at McDonald Jones Stadium on September 5 also inadvertently confirmed that Townsville was top of the queue for the Fijian visit.

The bounce in crowd numbers when taking rugby Tests to new stadiums is well established.

Perth’s Optus Stadium made a record fuss of last year’s Bledisloe Cup Test with a 61,000-strong turnout.

Townsville’s new stadium will host the Wallabies in July.

The Test schedule has worked in Townsville’s favour big time for the Test to be played at Queensland Country Bank Stadium.

The Wallabies play a Test against Ireland in Sydney a week earlier on July 11 and it was unworkable to play back-to-back weeks in Sydney, even with Bankwest Stadium in Sydney’s west so suited to host internationals.

The 25,000-seat venue in Townsville was built to host more than just NRL games and this is proof it can be a magnet for other major events.

The Townsville experiment also shows that Rugby Australia is serious about road-testing venues that will be on the masterplan for the 2027 Rugby World Cup hosting bid.

Fiji’s Epeli Ruivadra hangs on by a thread as he looks for a gap in Japan's defence during the Rugby World Cup game in Townsville in 2003. Picture: AP Photo/Michael Chambers

Queensland coach Brad Thorn said the positive vibe to the recent Super Rugby trials in Dalby and Gladstone had highlighted again that the Reds represent far more than just Brisbane.

Thorn strongly advocated trials in regional hubs again next year when also talking up how good it would be to host Super Rugby in Townsville as well.

“I love the regional trials and hope people see we have a real interest in rugby in the state not just Brisbane,” Thorn said.

“From a coach point of view, it would be great to take a Super Rugby game to Townsville. I’m all for it.”

MORE RUGBY NEWS:

● SHATTERED: Petaia out after suffering training injury

● TOP 10: Jim Tucker’s best QLD rugby talents for 2020

Queensland Rugby Union chief executive David Hanham said Townsville was definitely in discussions for future matches.

“I think country people see a genuineness to connect from the players who visited more than 20 centres across the state on Reds-to-Regions visits last November and saw the hardships for people on the land,” Hanham said.

“I do see the Reds playing Super Rugby games in Townsville and it’s definitely in our planning for the future.”

The last Super Rugby match was played in Townsville as a one-off in 2006 when the Reds faced the Highlanders.