Opinion
Why the Anzac Day Bledisloe Cup Test is a no-brainer
Paul Cully
Rugby columnistA historic Bledisloe Cup Test on Anzac Day in 2026 is a rarity in rugby: at first glance, it appears to be a good idea with surprisingly few caveats.
News that the fixture is close to being finalised, as revealed by this masthead on Thursday, is one piece of an interconnected puzzle involving Rugby Australia, New Zealand Rugby and SA Rugby.
But the clever part of the Test is the fact that it is set to be bundled together with Super Round in Perth.
The Super Round concept has failed to take off because just calling something Super does not make it so.
In truth, it always lacked context, and there was nothing strong enough to distinguish it from a standard set of Super Rugby Pacific fixtures.
But if it is being packaged around Wallabies-All Blacks and Wallaroos-Black Ferns Tests, then you have a weekend that stands out.
Andrew Kellaway makes a break against New Zealand in 2023.Credit: Getty Images
Narratives will be plentiful - you can already bet that someone snubbed from the Test teams will have a standout game in Super Round, sticking a metaphorical two fingers up to the Test coach in the stands.
But the packaging of trans-Tasman Test rugby with Super Rugby also points to the fact that administrators on both sides of the ditch are not motivated by a desire to go it alone, as proposed by former Wallabies coach Michael Cheika this week.
In fact, if the Bledisloe Cup/Super Round party is signed off it will lead to a deepening of the Australia-New Zealand partnership - a recognition that although there are different needs and wants, the option of going it alone is the greater of two evils.
That’s not saying Cheika’s idea is a bad one, or doesn’t have great emotional appeal.
Setting aside the fact that the NRL itself is a trans-Tasman competition, which benefits commercially from the Warriors off the field and the presence of scores of New Zealanders across every club on the field, who wouldn’t want a thriving domestic rugby competition in Australia?
You’d be mad not to want that tribalism, and in fact, a few years ago this column told NZ Rugby chief executive Mark Robinson that the two countries were no longer compatible at Super Rugby level and should split up.
Yet, in the real world, I’d be stunned if there was a single chief executive of any national rugby union in the world who wouldn’t break out in a cold sweat at the prospect of going it alone.
South Africa can’t do it, Ireland can’t do it, and even England in recent years have given the impression they are struggling to do, losing three clubs to the financial abyss.
‘If it is being packaged around Wallabies v All Blacks and Wallaroos v Black Ferns Tests, then you have a weekend that stands out.’
The outliers might be France, but as Rugby Australia is finding out in regards to the missing Test fee from last year, the French have a different set of priorities - some might say an egregious attitude to the principle of reciprocity on which everyone ultimately depends.
As for the idea that Rugby Australia could maintain the bits of the trans-Tasman partnership it loves (the Bledisloe Tests) but withdraw from the part it currently struggles with (Super Rugby) - don’t kid yourselves.
That’s not how business works. If Australia were to withdraw from Super Rugby, effectively sinking five New Zealand Super Rugby sides - it does not take a genius to work out what the Kiwis’ attitude to the Bledisloe Cup would be.
And that would be far from the only part of the relationship damaged. When the All Blacks were hosting England in July, Australia’s World Rugby chair candidate Brett Robinson flew to New Zealand to lobby the RFU heavies, and he did so because New Zealand Rugby is most definitely in his corner.
There are a lot of shared interests between the two countries, particularly now as the relationship is better than it has been for years.
None of this undermines Cheika’s central point - the craving for a domestic competition in Australia. As mentioned above, this is a fundamental idea with its own merits.
But this is more likely to supplement Super Rugby Pacific, not replace it. It’s a tough world out there for rugby, and it’s good to have allies even though parts of the compromise annoy you.
Argentina v Wallabies, live and exclusive on Stan Sport from 4am, Sunday, September 8.