The All Blacks have added another five Tests on home soil to their calendar in 2021 – including two rare “away” games – with the full schedule for this year’s Rugby Championship announced.
The 12 fixtures for this year’s southern hemisphere tournament were announced with South Africa and Argentina committed to playing in this year’s competition after it was scrapped in their absence last year.
The bulk of the competition will be played in Australia and New Zealand with the trans-Tasman nations hosting five matches each while South Africa will have two Tests. There will be no travel to Argentina.
The five Tests in New Zealand have been divided up among Auckland, Wellington and Dunedin with Eden Park and Sky Stadium getting two matches each and Dunedin claiming the fifth.
Eden Park has also been handed the first Bledisloe Cup Tests against Australia, which will be played before the Rugby Championship starts on Saturday August 7.
The second Bledisloe Test is at Optus Stadium, Perth on Saturday 21 August, with the third back home at Sky Stadium, Wellington the following Saturday 28 August.
September will then see four Tests in a row in New Zealand for the All Blacks, with back-to-back Tests against Argentina at Eden Park on Saturday 11 September and Sky Stadium on Saturday 18 September.
The Wellington Test has been noted as a “home game” for the Pumas.
After that, the All Blacks then play the Springboks in back-to-back Tests in Dunedin and Auckland on the follow Saturdays with the second match noted as a “home game” for the South Africans.
All Blacks coach Ian Foster said it was good to have a schedule set in stone.
“This is a huge year for us and we’ll get to really test ourselves. We’re also really excited for our fans who will be treated to a bumper year of international rugby,” Foster said.
“It was a dramatically different year for us last year and we learned a lot about ourselves. This year we’ve been able to bring these lessons through into what will be a ‘normal’ year for the All Blacks, which is really, really exciting.
Dunedin’s Test between the All Blacks and Springboks will have extra sentiment with the match marking the 100 th Test between the two famous foes in the 100 th year anniversary since New Zealand’s first match against South Africa.
That Test was also played in Dunedin, with the All Blacks running out winners 13-5 on August 13 1921.
The confirmed draw adds to the All Blacks previously-announced July Tests which sees the team play Fiji in Dunedin and Hamilton after a historic match against Tonga at Auckland’s Mt Smart Stadium.
The All Blacks then finish their year with four Tests on their Northern Tour against Wales, Italy, Ireland and France meaning they’ll play 14 Tests this season – their most since 2017.
Bledisloe Cup Test
Saturday 7 August
All Blacks vs Australia, 7.05PM, Eden Park, AUCKLAND
2021 Rugby Championship match schedule
Saturday 14 August
South Africa vs Argentina, venue & kick-off time TBC, SOUTH AFRICA
Saturday 21 August
Australia vs All Blacks, kick-off time TBC, Optus Stadium, PERTH
Argentina vs South Africa, venue & kick-off time TBC, SOUTH AFRICA
Saturday 28 August
All Blacks vs Australia, 7.05PM, Sky Stadium, WELLINGTON
Saturday 11 September
All Blacks vs Argentina, 7.05PM, Eden Park, AUCKLAND
South Africa vs Australia, venue & kick-off time TBC, AUSTRALIA
Saturday 18 September
Argentina vs All Blacks, 7.05PM, Sky Stadium, WELLINGTON
Australia vs South Africa, kick-off time TBC, Suncorp Stadium, BRISBANE.
Saturday 25 September
All Blacks vs South Africa, 7.05PM, Forsyth Barr Stadium, DUNEDIN
Australia vs Argentina, venue & kick-off time TBC, AUSTRALIA
Saturday 2 October
South Africa vs All Blacks, 7.05PM, Eden Park, AUCKLAND
Argentina vs Australia, venue & kick-off time TBC, AUSTRALIA
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