All Blacks: Anzac Day tests will see players miss Super Rugby Pacific round the week prior

All Blacks players will have to sit out a week of Super Rugby fixtures before participating in future Anzac Day tests.

New Zealand Rugby (NZR) confirmed the All Blacks and Wallabies will add a third Bledisloe Cup test to their 2027, 2029 and 2031 schedules, with the extra matches to be played on Anzac Day at Brisbane’s Suncorp Stadium.

NZR chief executive Steve Lancaster told Newstalk ZB‘s Jason Pine that players picked to play for the All Blacks will be expected to miss the preceding round of Super Rugby matches.

“Generally, that’s what we’re thinking,” Lancaster said.

“We haven’t worked through the detail of that, but that would be a reasonable expectation is that the players selected for this test won’t play in Super Rugby the weekend prior.”

He added the players would be released back to their squads immediately after the test and that Anzac weekend would be a full bye round for the competition.

“We’ve worked with both Rugby Australia and Super Rugby clubs, and the Players’ Association, actually, in putting this together,” Lancaster said.

“The Super clubs see this for the opportunity that it is. It’s a great opportunity to build interest in the competition, it’s a great opportunity to strengthen rugby in Australia, in particular, which we know is really important, both for Rugby Australia and for New Zealand Rugby and for the Super Rugby Pacific competition.

“And as I say, they’re used to managing their squads over a season, so they’re already looking at the opportunity that presents around squad management and how they approach those fixtures the week prior.

“But as I say also, the fortunate sequencing here is that we’re not having to play through that weekend either, so there will be a full bye round on Anzac weekend.”

Despite the three confirmed fixtures being played in Brisbane, Lancaster didn’t rule out New Zealand hosting an Anzac test at some point.

“We’ve kind of left that door slightly ajar by announcing that it’ll be every other year at this point in time, but the reality is that the economics of staging test matches in Australia as opposed to New Zealand are quite different,” he explained.

“We see the opportunity right now as an opportunity in Australia to have a major rugby fixture early in the year to capture their public’s attention, to build interest in the competition.

“It’s a slightly different proposition here in New Zealand, and so that’s why we’ve done it every other year.

“It’s not to say we wouldn’t and couldn’t do something in the intervening years here in New Zealand, but at the moment we’re comfortable that what we’ve committed to is going to work for the next six years.”

All Blacks v Wallabies Anzac Day tests

Sunday, April 25, 2027. Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane.

Wednesday, April 25, 2029. Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane.

Friday, April 25, 2031. Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane.