It’s only been a few short weeks since the All Blacks season ended, and already we’re looking at season 2014. SANZAR, the governing behind the Rugby Championship, has today announced the draw for next years fixtures, and the All Blacks have also announced their test series against the English.
This is hugely exciting. England is certainly a welcome challenge for New Zealand to do battle with, as the English always bring their full intensity to every game. New Zealand has a lot to fight for, coming off the back of their perfect 14 game winning streak. It puts the All Blacks in a powerful, but very threatened position. Someone has to claim the All Blacks scalp eventually, everyone will be gunning for that goal. Add into the mix an Argentinian team who seriously shook up the Springboks still chasing those elusive first victories, and a Wallabies camp that has a questionable performance in the Rugby Championship to make up for…next year is going to be explosive to say the least.
While we’re on the subject, we also need to remember 2014 will be the year that these teams look to prepare and develop for the 2015 Rugby World Cup.
Not to mention Australia haven’t hoisted the Bledisloe cup in over a decade.
Also exciting is the grounds being used for the Rugby Championship. Napier in New Zealand, Perth in Western Australia and Skilled Stadium on the Gold Coast are all going to serve as exciting new gaming opportunities for the Championship. I’m also going to be interested to see how the Crusaders fare against the English in Canterbury.
All of these ingredients make for what could only be described as a volatile powderkeg. Something is going to blow up, and I can not wait!
The All Blacks dates for the Steinlager Series against England are:
7 June – Eden Park, Auckland
14 June – Forsyth Barr Stadium, Dunedin
(17 June – England v Crusaders – AMI (Addington) Stadium, Christchurch)
21 June – Waikato Stadium, Hamilton
The Rugby Championship Draw looks like this (from the All Blacks website):
ROUND 1
Saturday 16 August Australia v New Zealand ANZ Stadium, Sydney
Saturday 16 August South Africa v Argentina Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria
ROUND 2
Saturday 23 August New Zealand v Australia Eden Park, Auckland
Saturday 23 August Argentina v South Africa TBC, Argentina
Saturday 30 August BYE
ROUND 3
Saturday 6 September Australia v South Africa Patersons Stadium, Perth
Saturday 6 September New Zealand v Argentina McLean Park, Napier
ROUND 4
Saturday 13 September Australia v Argentina Skilled Park, Gold Coast
Saturday 13 September New Zealand v South Africa Westpac Stadium, Wellington
Saturday 20 September BYE
ROUND 5
Saturday 27 September South Africa v Australia DHL Newlands, Cape Town
Saturday 27 September Argentina v New Zealand TBC, Argentina
ROUND 6
Saturday 4 October South Africa v New Zealand Coca-Cola Park, Johannesburg
Saturday 4 October Argentina v Australia TBC, Argentina
I’ll keep you posted with all the Rugby Championship and Steinlager Series news as it comes to hand. 2014 is going to be huge folks, get ready for one hell of a ride!
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Main Photo Credit: Stewart Baird Photography via Flickr
