Sports

Australia A back on radar as World Rugby look to strengthen ‘tier two’ schedule

Rugby Australia boss Raelene Castle discussed the possible return of the “A” team – after a 12-year absence – as she also confirmed Townsville was a leading contender to host a Test between the Wallabies and Fiji in July.

A report in Queensland’s Courier Mail newspaper on Sunday indicated Townsville’s new $250 million North Queensland Stadium could play host to the Wallabies in their scheduled clash with Fiji on July 18.

Other regional centres like Newcastle and Wollongong have also been considered.

“When we look at our Test match schedule every year, we have to balance trying to maximise our revenue out of those Test matches, because that’s how we make our money to invest back into the game, and at the same time we also have a desire to want to take the Wallabies to places we don’t traditionally play,” Castle said.

“There are a couple of new venues and Townsville has just built a new, world-class stadium and that’s a part of Australia that we haven’t played in a long period of time.

“So it’s certainly an area that we have considered very carefully, and we will look to announce more about that Test in the near future.”

With the Nations Cup proposal having been killed off by northern hemisphere nations last year, World Rugby has sharpened its focus on ways to help ‘tier two’ nations build more consistent Test schedules, and to get exposure to major Test nations as well.

Castle said Rugby Australia worked “really closely with our Pacific Island neighbours” and the topic of playing more games in the region was one of the topics discussed with World Rugby chairman Bill Beaumont during his visit to Sydney last week.