All Blacks set to play at Mount Smart, Dunedin in line to host Bledisloe test

• Published date: 30 September 2022

Mount Smart is now odds-on favourite to be the venue for the match against the Springboks next year as Eden Park is almost certainly not going to host the All Blacks in 2023, which will be the first time in the professional era the Auckland ground has missed out on being allocated a test

Mount Smart is being lined up because Eden Park, Dunedin, Wellington and Hamilton will be off limits to the All Blacks from July 20 to August 20, all four venues serving as World Cup hosts.

Fifa imposes strict exclusivity around its venues and because next year is a World Cup year, the Rugby Championship, which will be truncated to just one round and the Bledisloe Cup, has to be squeezed into a tight window from early July to mid-August.

It is understood the All Blacks will play the first Bledisloe Cup clash at the Melbourne Cricket Ground and that NZR is hopeful it will be able to host the Wallabies a week later in Dunedin.

The All Blacks will play the Pumas in Argentina, but the problem with the Fifa scheduling impacts the final Rugby Championship test at home to the Springboks.

With no major venues available, the largest capacity stadium open for that game is Mount Smart, in Auckland.

The All Blacks have previously played at Mount Smart, as recently as last year when they took on Tonga. But Mount Smart is the home of the New Zealand Warriors and recognised as the spiritual home of rugby league.

The irony has not been missed that the All Blacks will next year play at the spiritual home of rugby league, but not Eden Park, which is recognised as the spiritual home of rugby in this country.

The decision to play the home Bledisloe in Dunedin, rather than at Eden Park which is...