All Blacks will play its first-ever home test overseas when it takes on 19th July South Pacific foe Fiji at San Diego State’s Snapdragon Stadium.
It will be Fiji’s first visit to the United States and the first meeting between the All Blacks Rugby and the Flying Fijians at a neutral venue.
Since 1906, the All Blacks have toured the United States for exhibition matches. In October 1980, they defeated the Americans 53-6 at what was then known as San Diego Stadium. The 35,000-seat Snapdragon Stadium took its place and inaugurated in 2022.
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Ma’a Nonu, the legendary All Black who recently re-signed with the San Diego Legion, a founding member of Major League Rugby, said of New Zealand rugby, bringing a home test over to the States.
Coming to the States is pretty exciting when the All Blacks touch down here, Nonu remarked at a news conference on Wednesday, considering that the majority of American rugby fans had only ever seen the All Blacks on TV.
In October, the All Blacks lost the Rugby World Cup final to South Africa 12-11, just missing out on a record-tying fourth trophy. For the first time in 69 years, Fiji defeated Australia and advanced to the quarterfinals, matching their best-ever result.
The World Rugby Hall of Famer Waisale Serevi, a legendary player from Fiji, stated that the test match will be extremely important for his nation as well.
For a small nation like Fiji, having the chance to face them on neutral ground is a blessing, according to Serevi. Fiji is honoured and privileged to have been invited.
The test will aid in the promotion of rugby in the US, which will play home to the women’s championship in 2033 and the men’s Rugby World Cup in 2027.
In their inaugural season under new coach Scott Robertson, the All Blacks will play 14 test matches across nine countries, including the one in San Diego.
Robertson’s first tests in charge will be against England at Dunedin on July 6 and in Auckland on July 13. Next, they take a plane to San Diego to play Fiji.
Rugby Championship home tests between New Zealand and Argentina are scheduled for August 10 in Wellington and August 17 in Auckland. The world champion South Africa will thereafter be the opponent in Johannesburg on August 31 and Cape Town on September 7.