Perth’s Optus Stadium will host the Australian match of the 2025 Bledisloe Cup series.
The decision to take the game west in a season that will be highlighted by the British and Irish Lions tour down under was confirmed by a WA government official on Monday.
The Wallabies will play three games of The Rugby Championship in Australia next year – the other two against Argentina.
The Perth Bledisloe will be held at Optus on Saturday, October 4.
The Wallabies will also return to Townsville where they are set to take on Argentina at Queensland Country Bank Stadium on September 6 in what will be their first Rugby Championship Test on home soil in 2025.
The two sides clashed at the same venue in a COVID-19 affected 2021 Rugby Championship with the men in gold recording a 27-8 victory in front of a near capacity crowd of more than 23,000 people.
The two sides will meet again at Sydney’s Allianz Stadium one week later, on September 13.
Rugby Australia CEO Phil Waugh said in statement: “We’re pleased to be able to confirm the Wallabies Home Rugby Championship Test schedule for next year.”
“We saw again this year the massive support for the game in Perth with over 58,000 supporters at Optus Stadium for the South Africa match and I’m sure we’ll see great interest when the Bledisloe Cup Test returns to Western Australia next year.
“To be able to return to Townsville demonstrates our commitment to making our national teams more accessible to more Australians and we look forward to returning to Sydney the following week for what’s always a strong supporter base for the Wallabies.”
Harry Wilson of Australia on attack during The Rugby Championship & Bledisloe Cup match between New Zealand All Blacks and Australia Wallabies. (Photo by Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images)
“The Bledisloe Cup is a much-loved sporting event with a track record of huge success in Perth, so we’re very excited to be bringing it back in 2025 in the midst of our golden decade of rugby,” WA Tourism Minister Rita Saffioti told Nine.
The Bledisloe Cup holds the sporting event attendance record for Optus Stadium, with 61,000 turning out to watch the Wallabies win 47-26 in 2019. It also hosted a match when England toured under Eddie Jones in 2022.
“Having the Bledisloe Cup as the only one on Australian soil next year is a massive coup,” said Saffioti.
“With the passion and enthusiasm rugby fans have for this event in particular, we’re expecting many of them to make the trip across the country to witness this spectacle.”
She said the city had put in a bid to be a venue for the 2027 World Cup.
“We’ve put our bids in for the Rugby World Cup to be a part of that in 2027, so we’re very keen to continue to support the game in WA.”
