Bledisloe Cup

Template:Short description Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox sports award The Bledisloe Cup is an annual rugby union competition between the national teams of Australia's Wallabies and New Zealand's All Blacks that has been contested since the 1930s. The frequency that the competition is held has varied, as has the number of matches played in each tournament, but it currently consists of an annual two-match series, with the matches counting towards The Rugby Championship. New Zealand has had the most success, winning the trophy in 2025 for the 53rd time and 22nd in succession (excluding the disputed inaugural competition in 1931), while Australia has won the trophy 12 times.

History

Semantics plays a role in the issue of when the inaugural Bedisloe Cup match was played. The Australian Rugby Union (ARU) contend that the one-off 1931 match played at Eden Park was first. The only record of a match taking place is recorded in the minutes of a New Zealand union management meeting several days later that Lord Bledisloe wished to present a cup for the All Blacks and Wallabies competition. The New Zealand Rugby Union (NZRU) believe that the first match was when New Zealand toured Australia in 1932.

Between 1931 and 1981, the Bledisloe Cup was contested irregularly in the course of rugby tours between the two countries, with New Zealand winning it nineteen times and Australia four times. In 1949, Australia won the competition for the first time on New Zealand soil. The trophy itself was apparently 'lost' during this period and reportedly rediscovered in a Melbourne store room. It was contested annually from 1982 to 1995, sometimes as a series of three matches (two in 1995) and other times in a single match. During these years, New Zealand won the trophy eleven times and Australia three times.

Since 1996, the cup has been contested as part of the annual Tri Nations tournament. Until 1998, the cup was contested in a three-match series consisting of the two Tri Nations matches between the two sides and a third match. New Zealand won the series in 1996 and 1997, and Australia won it in 1998.

In 1996, and from 1999 through 2005, the third match was not played; during these years, Australia and New Zealand played each other twice as part of the Tri Nations for the cup. If the two teams won one game each, or if both games were drawn, the cup was retained by its current holder. The non-holder needed to win the two games 2–0 or 1–0 (with a draw) to regain the cup. A criticism of this system was that, with the two sides being very well matched in ability level, it was very common for the teams to win one game each and many rugby fans were dissatisfied with one team keeping the cup in the years when the series was tied at 1–1 (1999, 2000, 2002, 2004).

In 2006, the Tri Nations series was extended so that each team played each other three times, meaning a return of the three-game contest for the Bledisloe Cup. However, the cup reverted to the two-game contest in 2007 because the Tri Nations was abbreviated that year to minimise interference with the teams' preparations for the World Cup.

The three-match format for the Bledisloe Cup continued in 2012, with the first two matches taking place as part of the 2012 Rugby Championship.

Neutral venues

Discussions have been held at various times to stage matches in Asia and north America. A formal proposal came from Denver, Colorado, USA for a fixture in 2009 which did not eventuate. A few games have been played in Hong Kong and Japan without regular continuity since 2025Template:Dated maintenance category (articles).

Hong Kong

In 2008 the Bledisloe Cup was contested over four matches played in Sydney, Auckland, Brisbane and Hong Kong, in an effort to promote the game in Asia. This was the first time Australia and New Zealand had played in a third country outside the Rugby World Cup. The Hong Kong match drew a crowd of 39,000 to see the All Blacks defeat the Wallabies 19–14 (New Zealand having already won the Cup for that year). The fixture reportedly generated over £5.5 million—a financial success for the two unions. A fourth match was again played in Hong Kong in 2010—Australia winning by 26-24—but ticket sales fell well short of expectations.

Japan

The capital Tokyo hosted a fourth Bledisloe Test match on 31 October 2009, which the All Blacks won by 32-19. The game was heavily publicised to "raise the profile of rugby in the region in the run-up to the 2019 Rugby World Cup in Japan, and help bring more youngsters into playing the game."

On 27 October 2018, the Bledisloe Cup returned to Japan for a second contest hosted this time in Yokohama with the purpose of promoting and preparing for the 2019 Rugby World Cup. The All Blacks defeated the Wallabies 37–20 in that third test to sweep the series. Attendance was around 46,000—a record for a rugby test match in Japan.

Future proposals

Behind the push from World Rugby with their League of Nations concept, only one match result would count for League of Nations points but the new season schedule must be able to accommodate a second Test each year in the new format. The gate receipts from Bledisloe Cup match-ups are critical to both Rugby Australia and New Zealand Rugby Union and both nations are firm in their belief that one home match is mandatory. The third Bledisloe, which has long been a cash cow for both nations, could cease to exist. Any cash lost from forfeiting that match would be compensated by A$18 million per year in League of Nations broadcast revenue.

Results

Year	Date	Venue	Home	Score	Away	Series Winner	Result	Trophy Holder
1932Template:Efn	2 July	Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney	Australia	22–17	New Zealand	Template:Flagicon	2–1	Template:Flagicon
	16 July	Exhibition Ground, Brisbane		3–21
	23 July	Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney		13–21
1934Template:Efn	11 August	Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney	Australia	25–11	New Zealand	Template:Flagicon	1–0	Template:Flagicon
	25 August	Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney		3–3
1936Template:Efn	5 September	Athletic Park, Wellington	New Zealand	11–6	Australia	Template:Flagicon	2–0	Template:Flagicon
	12 September	Carisbrook, Dunedin		38–13
1938Template:Efn	23 July	Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney	Australia	9–24	New Zealand	Template:Flagicon	3–0	Template:Flagicon
	6 August	Exhibition Ground, Brisbane		14–20
	13 August	Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney		6–14
1946Template:Efn	14 September	Carisbrook, Dunedin	New Zealand	31–8	Australia	Template:Flagicon	2–0	Template:Flagicon
	28 September	Eden Park, Auckland		14–10
1947Template:Efn	14 June	Exhibition Ground, Brisbane	Australia	5–13	New Zealand	Template:Flagicon	2–0	Template:Flagicon
	28 June	Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney		14–27
1949Template:Efn	3 September	Athletic Park, Wellington	New Zealand	6–11	Australia	Template:Flagicon	2–0	Template:Flagicon
	24 September	Eden Park, Auckland		9–16
1951Template:Efn	23 June	Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney	Australia	0–8	New Zealand	Template:Flagicon	3–0	Template:Flagicon
	7 July	Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney		11–17
	21 July	The Gabba, Brisbane		6–16
1952Template:Efn	6 September	Lancaster Park, Christchurch	New Zealand	9–14	Australia	Draw	1–1	Template:Flagicon
	13 September	Athletic Park, Wellington		15–8
1955Template:Efn	20 August	Athletic Park, Wellington	New Zealand	16–8	Australia	Template:Flagicon	2–1	Template:Flagicon
	3 September	Carisbrook, Dunedin		8–0
	17 September	Eden Park, Auckland		3–8
1957Template:Efn	25 May	Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney	Australia	11–25	New Zealand	Template:Flagicon	2–0	Template:Flagicon
	1 June	Exhibition Ground, Brisbane		9–22
1958Template:Efn	23 August	Athletic Park, Wellington	New Zealand	25–3	Australia	Template:Flagicon	2–1	Template:Flagicon
	6 September	Lancaster Park, Christchurch		3–6
	20 September	Epsom Showgrounds, Auckland		17–8
1962Template:Efn	26 May	Exhibition Ground, Brisbane	Australia	6–20	New Zealand	Template:Flagicon	2–0	Template:Flagicon
	4 June	Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney		5–14
1962Template:Efn	25 August	Athletic Park, Wellington	New Zealand	9–9	Australia	Template:Flagicon	2–0	Template:Flagicon
	8 September	Carisbrook, Dunedin		3–0
	22 September	Eden Park, Auckland		16–8
1964Template:Efn	15 August	Carisbrook, Dunedin	New Zealand	14–9	Australia	Template:Flagicon	2–1	Template:Flagicon
	22 August	Lancaster Park, Christchurch		18–3
	29 August	Athletic Park, Wellington		5–20
1967	19 August	Athletic Park, Wellington	New Zealand	29–9	Australia	Template:Flagicon	1–0	Template:Flagicon
1968Template:Efn	15 June	Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney	Australia	11–27	New Zealand	Template:Flagicon	2–0	Template:Flagicon
	22 June	Ballymore, Brisbane		18–19
1972Template:Efn	19 August	Athletic Park, Wellington	New Zealand	29–6	Australia	Template:Flagicon	3–0	Template:Flagicon
	2 September	Lancaster Park, Christchurch		30–17
	16 September	Eden Park, Auckland		38–3
1974Template:Efn	25 May	Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney	Australia	6–11	New Zealand	Template:Flagicon	2–0	Template:Flagicon
	1 June	Ballymore, Brisbane		16–16
	8 June	Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney		6–16
1978Template:Efn	19 August	Athletic Park, Wellington	New Zealand	13–12	Australia	Template:Flagicon	2–1	Template:Flagicon
	26 August	Lancaster Park, Christchurch		22–6
	9 September	Eden Park, Auckland		16–30
1979Template:Efn	28 July	Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney	Australia	12–6	New Zealand	Template:Flagicon	1–0	Template:Flagicon
1980Template:Efn	21 June	Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney	Australia	13–9	New Zealand	Template:Flagicon	2–1	Template:Flagicon
	28 June	Ballymore, Brisbane		9–12
	12 July	Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney		26–10
1982Template:Efn	14 August	Lancaster Park, Christchurch	New Zealand	23–16	Australia	Template:Flagicon	2–1	Template:Flagicon
	28 August	Athletic Park, Wellington		16–19
	11 September	Eden Park, Auckland		33–18
1983	20 August	Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney	Australia	8–18	New Zealand	Template:Flagicon	1–0	Template:Flagicon
1984Template:Efn	21 July	Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney	Australia	16–9	New Zealand	Template:Flagicon	2–1	Template:Flagicon
	4 August	Ballymore, Brisbane		15–19
	18 August	Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney		24–25
1985	29 June	Eden Park, Auckland	New Zealand	10–9	Australia	Template:Flagicon	1–0	Template:Flagicon
1986Template:Efn	9 August	Athletic Park, Wellington	New Zealand	12–13	Australia	Template:Flagicon	2–1	Template:Flagicon
	23 August	Carisbrook, Dunedin		13–12
	6 September	Eden Park, Auckland		9–22
1987	25 July	Concord Oval, Sydney	Australia	16–30	New Zealand	Template:Flagicon	1–0	Template:Flagicon
1988Template:Efn	3 July	Concord Oval, Sydney	Australia	7–32	New Zealand	Template:Flagicon	2–0	Template:Flagicon
	16 July	Ballymore, Brisbane		19–19
	30 July	Concord Oval, Sydney		9–30
1989	5 August	Eden Park, Auckland	New Zealand	24–12	Australia	Template:Flagicon	1–0	Template:Flagicon
1990Template:Efn	21 July	Lancaster Park, Christchurch	New Zealand	21–6	Australia	Template:Flagicon	2–1	Template:Flagicon
	4 August	Eden Park, Auckland		27–17
	18 August	Athletic Park, Wellington		9–21
1991Template:Efn	10 August	Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney	Australia	21–12	New Zealand	Draw	1–1	Template:Flagicon
	24 August	Eden Park, Auckland	New Zealand	6–3	Australia
1992Template:Efn	4 July	Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney	Australia	16–15	New Zealand	Template:Flagicon	2–1	Template:Flagicon
	19 July	Ballymore, Brisbane		19–17
	25 July	Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney		23–26
1993	17 July	Carisbrook, Dunedin	New Zealand	25–10	Australia	Template:Flagicon	1–0	Template:Flagicon
1994	17 August	Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney	Australia	20–16	New Zealand	Template:Flagicon	1–0	Template:Flagicon
1995	22 July	Eden Park, Auckland	New Zealand	28–16	Australia	Template:Flagicon	2–0	Template:Flagicon
	29 July	Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney	Australia	23–34	New Zealand
1996	6 July	Athletic Park, Wellington	New Zealand	43–6	Australia	Template:Flagicon	2–0	Template:Flagicon
	27 July	Lang Park, Brisbane	Australia	25–32	New Zealand
1997	5 July	Lancaster Park, Christchurch	New Zealand	30–13	Australia	Template:Flagicon	3–0	Template:Flagicon
	26 July	Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne	Australia	18–33	New Zealand
	16 August	Carisbrook, Dunedin	New Zealand	36–24	Australia
1998	11 July	Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne	Australia	24–16	New Zealand	Template:Flagicon	3–0	Template:Flagicon
	1 August	Lancaster Park, Christchurch	New Zealand	23–27	Australia
	29 August	Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney	Australia	19–14	New Zealand
1999	24 July	Eden Park, Auckland	New Zealand	34–15	Australia	Draw	1–1	Template:Flagicon
	28 August	Stadium Australia, Sydney	Australia	28–7	New Zealand
2000	15 July	Stadium Australia, Sydney	Australia	35–39	New Zealand	Draw	1–1	Template:Flagicon
	5 August	Wellington Regional Stadium, Wellington	New Zealand	23–24	Australia
2001	11 August	Carisbrook, Dunedin	New Zealand	15–23	Australia	Template:Flagicon	2–0	Template:Flagicon
	1 September	Stadium Australia, Sydney	Australia	29–26	New Zealand
2002	13 July	Lancaster Park, Christchurch	New Zealand	12–6	Australia	Draw	1–1	Template:Flagicon
	3 August	Stadium Australia, Sydney	Australia	16–14	New Zealand
2003	26 July	Stadium Australia, Sydney	Australia	21–50	New Zealand	Template:Flagicon	2–0	Template:Flagicon
	16 August	Eden Park, Auckland	New Zealand	21–17	Australia
2004	17 July	Wellington Regional Stadium, Wellington	New Zealand	16–7	Australia	Draw	1–1	Template:Flagicon
	7 August	Stadium Australia, Sydney	Australia	23–18	New Zealand
2005	13 August	Stadium Australia, Sydney	Australia	13–30	New Zealand	Template:Flagicon	2–0	Template:Flagicon
	3 September	Eden Park, Auckland	New Zealand	34–24	Australia
2006	8 July	Lancaster Park, Christchurch	New Zealand	32–12	Australia	Template:Flagicon	3–0	Template:Flagicon
	29 July	Lang Park, Brisbane	Australia	9–13	New Zealand
	19 August	Eden Park, Auckland	New Zealand	34–27	Australia
2007	30 June	Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne	Australia	20–15	New Zealand	Draw	1–1	Template:Flagicon
	21 July	Eden Park, Auckland	New Zealand	26–12	Australia
2008	26 July	Stadium Australia, Sydney	Australia	34–19	New Zealand	Template:Flagicon	3–1	Template:Flagicon
	2 August	Eden Park, Auckland	New Zealand	39–10	Australia
	13 September	Lang Park, Brisbane	Australia	24–28	New Zealand
	1 November	Hong Kong Stadium, Hong Kong	New Zealand	19–14	Australia
2009	18 July	Eden Park, Auckland	New Zealand	22–16	Australia	Template:Flagicon	4–0	Template:Flagicon
	22 August	Stadium Australia, Sydney	Australia	18–19	New Zealand
	19 September	Wellington Regional Stadium, Wellington	New Zealand	33–6	Australia
	31 October	National Stadium, Tokyo	New Zealand	32–19	Australia
2010	31 July	Docklands Stadium, Melbourne	Australia	28–49	New Zealand	Template:Flagicon	3–1	Template:Flagicon
	7 August	Lancaster Park, Christchurch	New Zealand	20–10	Australia
	11 September	Stadium Australia, Sydney	Australia	22–23	New Zealand
	30 October	Hong Kong Stadium, Hong Kong	Australia	26–24	New Zealand
2011	6 August	Eden Park, Auckland	New Zealand	30–14	Australia	Draw	1–1	Template:Flagicon
	27 August	Lang Park, Brisbane	Australia	25–20	New Zealand
2012	18 August	Stadium Australia, Sydney	Australia	19–27	New Zealand	Template:Flagicon	2–0	Template:Flagicon
	25 August	Eden Park, Auckland	New Zealand	22–0	Australia
	20 October	Lang Park, Brisbane	Australia	18–18	New Zealand
2013	17 August	Stadium Australia, Sydney	Australia	29–47	New Zealand	Template:Flagicon	3–0	Template:Flagicon
	24 August	Wellington Regional Stadium, Wellington	New Zealand	27–16	Australia
	19 October	Forsyth Barr Stadium, Dunedin	New Zealand	41–33	Australia
2014	16 August	Stadium Australia, Sydney	Australia	12–12	New Zealand	Template:Flagicon	2–0	Template:Flagicon
	23 August	Eden Park, Auckland	New Zealand	51–20	Australia
	18 October	Lang Park, Brisbane	Australia	28–29	New Zealand
2015	8 August	Stadium Australia, Sydney	Australia	27–19	New Zealand	Draw	1–1	Template:Flagicon
	15 August	Eden Park, Auckland	New Zealand	41–13	Australia
2016	20 August	Stadium Australia, Sydney	Australia	8–42	New Zealand	Template:Flagicon	3–0	Template:Flagicon
	27 August	Wellington Regional Stadium, Wellington	New Zealand	29–9	Australia
	22 October	Eden Park, Auckland	New Zealand	37–10	Australia
2017	19 August	Stadium Australia, Sydney	Australia	34–54	New Zealand	Template:Flagicon	2–1	Template:Flagicon
	26 August	Forsyth Barr Stadium, Dunedin	New Zealand	35–29	Australia
	21 October	Lang Park, Brisbane	Australia	23–18	New Zealand
2018	18 August	Stadium Australia, Sydney	Australia	13–38	New Zealand	Template:Flagicon	3–0	Template:Flagicon
	25 August	Eden Park, Auckland	New Zealand	40–12	Australia
	27 October	Nissan Stadium, Yokohama	New Zealand	37–20	Australia
2019	10 August	Perth Stadium, Perth	Australia	47–26	New Zealand	Draw	1–1	Template:Flagicon
	17 August	Eden Park, Auckland	New Zealand	36–0	Australia
2020	11 OctoberTemplate:Efn	Wellington Regional Stadium, Wellington	New Zealand	16–16	Australia	Template:Flagicon	2–1	Template:Flagicon
	18 OctoberTemplate:Efn	Eden Park, Auckland	New Zealand	27–7	Australia
	31 October	Stadium Australia, Sydney	Australia	5–43	New Zealand
	7 November	Lang Park, Brisbane	Australia	24–22	New Zealand
2021	7 AugustTemplate:Efn	Eden Park, Auckland	New Zealand	33–25	Australia	Template:Flagicon	3–0	Template:Flagicon
	14 AugustTemplate:Efn	Eden Park, Auckland	New Zealand	57–22	Australia
	5 September	Perth Stadium, Perth	Australia	21–38	New Zealand
2022	15 September	Docklands Stadium, Melbourne	Australia	37–39	New Zealand	Template:Flagicon	2–0	Template:Flagicon
	24 September	Eden Park, Auckland	New Zealand	40–14	Australia
2023	29 July	Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne	Australia	7–38	New Zealand	Template:Flagicon	2–0	Template:Flagicon
	5 August	Forsyth Barr Stadium, Dunedin	New Zealand	23–20	Australia
2024	21 September	Stadium Australia, Sydney	Australia	28–31	New Zealand	Template:Flagicon	2–0	Template:Flagicon
	28 September	Wellington Regional Stadium, Wellington	New Zealand	33–13	Australia
2025	27 September	Eden Park, Auckland	New Zealand	33–24	Australia	Template:Flagicon	2–0	Template:Flagicon
	4 October	Perth Stadium, Perth	Australia	14–28	New Zealand

Matches and statistics

Match stats

As of 5 August 2023.

Series' stats by match

Venue	Played	Won by		Drawn	Total points
		Australia	New Zealand		Australia	New Zealand
Template:Flagdeco Australia	74	22	47	5	1,274	1,674
Template:Flagdeco New Zealand	78	14	62	2	1,004	1,801
Neutral venue	4	1	3	—	79	112
Overall	156	37	112	7	2,357	3,587

Series' stats by seriesTemplate:Efn

Venue	Played	Won by		Drawn
		Australia	New Zealand
Template:Flagdeco Australia	17	5	12	—
Template:Flagdeco New Zealand	17	2	14	1
MixedTemplate:Efn	30	5	25	—
Overall	64	12	51Template:Efn	1

Venues

As of 5 August 2023.

In Australia

Location	Stadium	Won by Australia	Won by New Zealand	Drawn
Sydney, New South Wales	Sydney Cricket Ground	6	13	1
	Concord Oval	—	3	—
	Sydney Football Stadium	4	2	—
	Stadium Australia	6	11	1
Brisbane, Queensland	Brisbane Exhibition Ground	—	5	—
	The Gabba	—	1	—
	Ballymore Stadium	1	3	2
	Lang Park	2	4	1
Melbourne, Victoria	Melbourne Cricket Ground	2	2	—
	Docklands Stadium	—	2	—
Perth, Western Australia	Perth Stadium	1	1	—
Overall		22	47	5

In New Zealand

Location	City/Region	Stadium	Won by New Zealand	Won by Australia	Drawn
North Island	Auckland	Eden Park	29	4	—
		Epsom Showgrounds	1	—	—
	Wellington	Athletic Park	8	5	1
		Wellington Regional Stadium	4	1	1
South Island	Dunedin	Carisbrook	8	1	—
		Forsyth Barr Stadium	3	—	—
	Christchurch	Lancaster Park	9	3	—
Overall			62	14	2

Media coverage

In Australia, the Bledisloe Cup was televised between 1957 and 1991 by ABC, between 1992 and 1995 by Network Ten. Since 1996, paid service Fox Sports has televised it jointly with (free to air) Seven Network between 1996 and 2010, Nine Network (2011–2012), Network Ten (2013–2020) and since 2021 the Nine Network has held full broadcast rights alongside its paid streaming arm Stan Sport.

In New Zealand the Bledisloe Cup was televised between 1962 and 1996 by NZBC, Television One, TVNZ. Since 1997 the Bledisloe Cup has been televised by Sky Sport on Pay TV and Free To Air on TV3, Prime now called Sky Open.

See also

• History of rugby union matches between Australia and New Zealand
• Laurie O'Reilly Cup
• Rugby union trophies and awards