Fourth Bledisloe Cup Test Confirmed for Tokyo

Asia will again be the venue for a fourth Bledisloe Cup Test this year with Japan to host the final Bledisloe Cup test between the Wallabies and the All Blacks on 31st October.

The Japan Rugby Football Union (JRFU) has confirmed that it will stage the match at the National Stadium in Tokyo - centrepiece of the 1964 Olympic Games and with a capacity of more than 57,000.

Confirmation follows several months of negotiation between the Japan Rugby Football Union, their commercial agents Dentsu, and the Australian and New Zealand Rugby Unions.
Australian Rugby Union Deputy Chief Executive Matt Carroll, in Tokyo for the announcement, said taking another Bledisloe Cup Test to the bigger commercial markets in Asia and developing not only the gameâs profile but the brand of the Qantas Wallabies and the All Blacks, was an exciting initiative for all involved.

Carroll explained "playing in Tokyo is certainly in line with our strategic imperatives, announced at the start of 2008.

"As was outlined then, ARU is endeavouring to gain a share of valuable rugby economies outside Australia.

"The game in Japan receives significant university and corporate support.

"It is also an important step forward in terms of sporting relationships between our two countries.

"We have briefed the Ambassador in Tokyo about our plans and he said he was delighted that we were bringing this game to Japan."

Carroll said ARU was first approached by Japanese Rugby officials during the ground-breaking Bledisloe Cup match played in Hong Kong last November, JRFU officials travelling to Hong Kong to meet ARU and NZRU officials.

Carroll added."The JRFU and Dentsu put forward an expression of interest."

Beyond this year, as focus shifts towards the Rugby World Cup and national sides face an increasingly busy Test schedule, the traditional trans-Tasman

The motives behind last year's fixture in Hong Kong, the first time a Bledisloe Cup match was staged on neutral soil, were explained by Matt Carroll in a feature in the November/December 2008 issue of Australasian Leisure Management.