Grand slam tour to crown Wallabies' bumper program

[travelling_gerry]

The Wallabies will crown a bumper 2009 international season with a rare “grand slam” tour of UK and Ireland after finally reaching an agreement to play England at Twickenham as the first Test of their annual spring tour.

ARU boss John O'Neill on Monday also confirmed a deal to play the All Blacks in a fourth Bledisloe Cup Test in Tokyo on October 31 was “virtually done and dusted” and that he expected an invitation from the Japanese Rugby Union to arrive in a matter of days.
But the securing of a “grand slam” program - 25 years after the last, when the Alan Jones-coached Wallabies famously won all four Tests against the home nations and Mark Ella scored a try in each victory - is what Australian rugby fans have longed for.
The mooted Test against England, to be rubber-stamped this week, will be played on November 7 and precede Tests with Scotland, Ireland and Wales on the following three Saturdays.
All up, the Wallabies will play 15 internationals this year, starting with a showdown with the Barbarians at the Sydney Football Stadium on June 6. The Wallabies then host Italy and France before taking on New Zealand and South Africa in the annual Tri Nations tournament.
“It's a great calendar. It's going to fantastic. As a rugby player, you couldn't ask for anything more,” Wallabies coach Robbie Deans said on Monday.
“It's absolutely chocker in terms of opponents. There's few international opponents that we won't get to play, essentially Argentina and the islands.
“We're playing Japan - not the Japanese side obviously - but to play there will be good ... it'll be great out there on the ground.
“We don't really care where (we play the All Blacks). It's a prospect we'll really look forward to.”
Deans said that while he accepts the hype that a “grand slam“ tour will inevitably generate, talk of another four-Test sweep was not his go.
“Obviously there will be references made to '84 and things that have been before and the prospect of that,” he said.
“But in terms of the way we approach it - as rugby players have to approach it - you can only deal with challenges as they present themselves.
“One of the challenges is to manage the itinerary that we do have to ensure that we present ourselves in our best shape in each instance.
“It certainly won't be easy.”
O'Neill said the ARU and NZRU were both “very content with the financial arrangements” for a Bledisloe Test at Tokyo's 1964 Olympic stadium, which holds 57,000 fans.
He expects the project to net the two unions around $3 million each.
“It will be a great occasion and I think the Japan Rugby union see this as another message that they're a serious player in rugby,” he said.
O'Neill said “in these tough economic times” it was a necessary evil to add the Tokyo and Twickenham Tests to the Wallabies' jam-packed program.
“It's a bit of a dilemma that both ourselves and New Zealand are finding ourselves having to play extra games and being rewarded for them to make ends meet,” he said.
“We don't get paid to play Wales, Ireland and Scotland. So adding in the All Blacks in Japan, adding in England, we do get rewarded, just as the Baa Baas and Wales rewarded us last year.
“Is that enduring? I don't think it is. I don't think playing 15 Test matches a year is right. I think it's too many.
“But when you look at the circumstances that we find ourselves in, and the stress and strains that the business is under this year because of the recession, you have no choice.
“I wouldn't like to think that we continue to play that many Tests going forward.”
AAP


http://www.thewest.com.au/default.as...ntentID=137038

[The InnFORCEr]

Awsome news about the Grand Slam opportnity.

[Little Ox]

Tokyo is tempting if there are cheap flights

[blueandblack]

be nice if it were in Perth

[James]

I want the JWC to come to Perth.

[travelling_gerry]

Bret Harris | April 21, 2009

Article from: The Australian

THE Wallabies will look to play more Tests overseas and fewer at home in the future as the ARU seeks to balance profitability and player burnout.

ARU chief executive John O'Neill announced yesterday that he was on the verge of finalising negotiations for a Bledisloe Cup match in Tokyo on October 31 and an additional Test against England at Twickenham in November, which would give the Wallabies their first grand slam tour of Britain and Ireland since 1984.

As was the case last year when the Wallabies played extra matches with the All Blacks in Hong Kong and the Barbarians at Wembley, the additional games are being arranged to raise revenue.

Despite the millions of dollars that will roll into the ARU's coffers, O'Neill doubted whether the Wallabies could maintain a 15-Test schedule in the long run.

"In these tough economic times, as we did last year, we played extra games," O'Neill said at a function in Sydney yesterday to appoint seven new Classic Wallabies Statesmen: Arthur Buchan, John Thornett, Jim Lenehan, John Hipwell, Mark Ella, Tim Horan and Matt Burke.

"It's a bit of a dilemma is the best word I can use to describe it.

"Both ourselves and New Zealand are finding ourselves having to play extra games and being rewarded for them to make ends meet.

"Is that enduring? I don't think it is. I don't think playing 15 Test matches a year is right. It's too many.

"When you look at the circumstances we find ourselves in and the stress and strains the business is under this year because of the recession, you have no choice."

But the ARU will still look to organise income-producing matches overseas. If there are cuts in the schedule, they will occur in the inbound Test window in June-July.

"It may be that the inbounds into Australia, New Zealand and South Africa go down to two instead of three and when we go north, we can play more income-producing games and less non-income-producing games," O'Neill said. "That's certainly where we would like to get to."

O'Neill said staging a Bledisloe Cup Test in Tokyo confirmed the ARU was serious about its push into Asia.

"The Japan Rugby Union see this as another message that they are a serious player in rugby," O'Neill said.

"They are hosting the under-20 world championship this year, Bledisloe in October, they are obviously going to be bidding for the World Cup and there is the potential for them to join Super rugby down the track." O'Neill said the ARU would support a Japanese bid to host the 2015 or 2019 World Cup if Australia dropped out of the contest because of the exorbitant tournament fee of $200 million.

"We are working on a bid for 2019, but I've got to say the numbers are horrendously difficult to justify with that level of tournament fee," O'Neill said.

"This decision is going to be taken in July this year for an event that is going to happen 10 years out.

"Certainly, if we are not in the race, Japan will have our support. It would be for both, but I tend to think their best chance is 2019."



http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au...015651,00.html