For a third straight year, Australia women will face New Zealand women in two fixtures that precede the Bledisloe Cup.

Rugby Australia had already confirmed another double-header at the Queensland County Bank Stadium in Townsville this July. The men will take on Fiji, with the women set to face world number three Canada, with a potential crowd of 25,000.

Queensland government officials predict that the match could generate 13,000 visitor nights and over $3 million for local businesses.

These double-headers are part of a planned strategy to increase growth ahead of the Women’s Rugby World Cup in New Zealand next September. This will be the ninth instalment of the women’s World Cup overall, but the first to be held in the Southern Hemisphere.

On 21st August 2019, World Rugby also announced plans to remove gender designations from the title of the World Cup. From now on, every tournament, male or female, will be called the “Rugby World Cup” with a year designation. 

Australia are yet to win a Trans-Tasman clash, with New Zealand emerging victorious on all 19 previous occasions. The World number ones comfortably won the two fixtures against the Wallaroos last year, by 37 points in Perth and then 29 points in Auckland. 

This year’s matches are scheduled for Melbourne’s Marvel Stadium on August the 8th followed by Wellington Stadium a week later.