Bledisloe Cup

Bledisloe Cup on display in Sydney 2014

Rugby Union's Bledisloe Cup is contested by the Australia national rugby union team and New Zealand national rugby union team. It is named after Lord Bledisloe, the former Governor-General of New Zealand who donated the trophy in 1931. The trophy was designed in New Zealand by Nelson Isaac, and crafted by Walker and Hall in Sheffield, England. It is physically the largest trophy in world rugby.

Once played irregularly every few years, Bledisloe Cup matches now happen annually, and include Rugby Championship (formerly Tri Nations) fixtures between the two sides. Their World Cup fixtures do not count as Bledisloe Cup matches, which were always played in Australia or New Zealand. However, 2008 saw a Bledisloe Cup match held outside the two countries for the first time when the teams met in Hong Kong, and a 2009 Bledisloe Cup match was played in Tokyo.^[1]

New Zealand has dominated the cup, winning it 12 times in a row (2003–2014).

History

Bledisloe Cup Festival Day 2014 in Sydney

There is some dispute as to when the first Bledisloe Cup match was played. The Australian Rugby Union (ARU) contend that the one-off 1931 match played at Eden Park was first. However, no firm evidence has been produced to support this claim, and minutes from a New Zealand union management meeting several days later record Lord Bledisloe wishing to present a cup for the All Blacks and Wallabies to play for. The New Zealand Rugby Union (NZRU) believe that the first match was when New Zealand toured Australia in 1932.

Between 1931 and 1981 it was contested irregularly in the course of rugby tours between the two countries. New Zealand won it 19 times and Australia four times in this period including in 1949 when Australia won it 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. In the years 1982 to 1995 it was contested annually, sometimes as a series of three matches (two in 1995) and other times in a single match. During these years New Zealand won it 11 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: the two Tri Nations matches between these sides and a third match. New Zealand won these 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 those years, Australia and New Zealand played each other twice as part of the Tri Nations for the cup. If both teams won one of these games, or if both games were drawn, the cup was retained by its current holder. The non-holder had 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 closeness in the level of ability between the two sides, years where each team won one game each were very common (1999, 2000, 2002, 2004) and in these years, many rugby fans felt dissatisfied with one team keeping the cup in a series tied at 1-1.

2006 saw the return of the 3-game contest for Bledisloe as the Tri Nations series was extended so that each team played each other 3 times. The 2007 Cup, however, reverted to the two-game contest because the Tri Nations was abbreviated that year to minimise interference with the teams' preparations for the World Cup.

In 2008 it was announced that the Bledisloe Cup would be contested over an unprecedented four matches, with three games played in Australia and New Zealand and a fourth and potentially deciding game in Hong Kong in an effort to promote the game in Asia (the first time Australia and New Zealand played in a third country outside the World Cup).^[2] The Hong Kong match, which drew a crowd of 39,000 to see the All Blacks (which had already clinched the Bledisloe Cup) defeat the Wallabies 19–14,^[3] proved to be a financial success for the two unions, generating a reported £5.5 million.^[4] Even before the match, the two countries' rugby federations were considering taking Cup matches to the United States and Japan in 2009 and 2010. Japan hosted a fourth Bledisloe Test Match on 31 October 2009. Each team is expected to clear at least A$3.8 million/NZ$5 million from the Tokyo match.^[1] However a 2010 fourth match was set in Hong Kong and has struggled to attract crowds. ^[5]

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.

Results

Year	Date	Venue	Home	Score	Away	Match Winner	Trophy Winner
2015	15 August	Eden Park, Auckland	New Zealand	–	Australia
	8 August	ANZ Stadium, Sydney	Australia	–	New Zealand
2014	18 October	Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane, Queensland	Australia	28 – 29	New Zealand	New Zealand
	23 August	Eden Park, Auckland	New Zealand	51 – 20	Australia	New Zealand
	16 August	ANZ Stadium, Sydney, New South Wales	Australia	12 – 12	New Zealand	Draw
2013	19 October	Otago Stadium, Dunedin	New Zealand	41 – 33	Australia	New Zealand
	24 August	Wellington Regional Stadium, Wellington	New Zealand	27 – 16	Australia	New Zealand
	17 August	ANZ Stadium, Sydney, New South Wales	Australia	29 – 47	New Zealand	New Zealand
2012	20 October	Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane, Queensland	Australia	18 – 18	New Zealand	Draw
	25 August	Eden Park, Auckland	New Zealand	22 – 0	Australia	New Zealand
	18 August	ANZ Stadium, Sydney, New South Wales	Australia	19 – 27	New Zealand	New Zealand
2011	27 August	Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane, Queensland	Australia	25 – 20	New Zealand	Australia
	6 August	Eden Park, Auckland	New Zealand	30 – 14	Australia	New Zealand
2010	30 October	Hong Kong Stadium, Hong Kong	Australia	26 – 24	New Zealand	Australia
	11 September	ANZ Stadium, Sydney, New South Wales	Australia	22 – 23	New Zealand	New Zealand
	7 August	AMI Stadium, Christchurch	New Zealand	20 – 10	Australia	New Zealand
	31 July	Etihad Stadium, Melbourne, Victoria	Australia	28 – 49	New Zealand	New Zealand
2009	31 October	National Stadium, Tokyo, Japan	New Zealand	32 – 19	Australia	New Zealand
	19 September	Wellington Regional Stadium, Wellington	New Zealand	33 – 6	Australia	New Zealand
	22 August	Stadium Australia, Sydney, New South Wales	Australia	18 – 19	New Zealand	New Zealand
	18 July	Eden Park, Auckland	New Zealand	22 – 16	Australia	New Zealand
2008	1 November	Hong Kong Stadium, Hong Kong	New Zealand	19 – 14	Australia	New Zealand
	13 September	Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane, Queensland	Australia	24 – 28	New Zealand	New Zealand
	2 August	Eden Park, Auckland	New Zealand	39 – 10	Australia	New Zealand
	26 July	Stadium Australia, Sydney, New South Wales	Australia	34 – 19	New Zealand	Australia
2007	21 July	Eden Park, Auckland	New Zealand	26 – 12	Australia	New Zealand
	30 June	Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne, Victoria	Australia	20 – 15	New Zealand	Australia
2006	19 August	Eden Park, Auckland	New Zealand	34 – 27	Australia	New Zealand
	29 July	Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane, Queensland	Australia	9 – 13	New Zealand	New Zealand
	8 July	Jade Stadium, Christchurch	New Zealand	32 – 12	Australia	New Zealand
2005	3 September	Eden Park, Auckland	New Zealand	34 – 24	Australia	New Zealand
	13 August	Stadium Australia, Sydney, New South Wales	Australia	13 – 30	New Zealand	New Zealand
2004	7 August	Stadium Australia, Sydney, New South Wales	Australia	23 – 18	New Zealand	Australia
	17 July	Wellington Regional Stadium, Wellington	New Zealand	16 – 7	Australia	New Zealand
2003	16 August	Eden Park, Auckland	New Zealand	21 – 17	Australia	New Zealand
	26 July	Stadium Australia, Sydney, New South Wales	Australia	21 – 50	New Zealand	New Zealand
2002	3 August	Stadium Australia, Sydney, New South Wales	Australia	16 – 14	New Zealand	Australia
	13 July	Jade Stadium, Christchurch	New Zealand	12 – 6	Australia	New Zealand
2001	1 September	Stadium Australia, Sydney, New South Wales	Australia	29 – 26	New Zealand	Australia
	11 August	Carisbrook, Dunedin	New Zealand	15 – 23	Australia	Australia
2000	5 August	Wellington Regional Stadium, Wellington	New Zealand	23 – 24	Australia	Australia
	15 July	Stadium Australia, Sydney, New South Wales	Australia	35 – 39	New Zealand	New Zealand
1999	28 August	Stadium Australia, Sydney, New South Wales	Australia	28 – 7	New Zealand	Australia
	24 July	Eden Park, Auckland	New Zealand	34 – 15	Australia	New Zealand
1998	29 August	Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney, New South Wales	Australia	19 – 14	New Zealand	Australia
	1 August	Lancaster Park, Christchurch	New Zealand	23 – 27	Australia	Australia
	11 July	Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne, Victoria	Australia	24 – 16	New Zealand	Australia
1997	16 August	Carisbrook, Dunedin	New Zealand	36 – 24	Australia	New Zealand
	26 July	Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne, Victoria	Australia	18 – 33	New Zealand	New Zealand
	5 July	Lancaster Park, Christchurch	New Zealand	30 – 13	Australia	New Zealand
1996	27 July	Lang Park, Brisbane, Queensland	Australia	25 – 32	New Zealand	New Zealand
	6 July	Athletic Park, Wellington	New Zealand	43 – 6	Australia	New Zealand
1995	29 July	Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney, New South Wales	Australia	23 – 34	New Zealand	New Zealand
	22 July	Eden Park, Auckland	New Zealand	28 – 16	Australia	New Zealand
1994	17 August	Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney, New South Wales	Australia	20 – 16	New Zealand	Australia
1993	17 July	Carisbrook, Dunedin	New Zealand	25 – 10	Australia	New Zealand
1992	25 July	Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney, New South Wales	Australia	23 – 26	New Zealand	New Zealand
	19 July	Ballymore Stadium, Brisbane, Queensland	Australia	19 – 17	New Zealand	Australia
	4 July	Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney, New South Wales	Australia	16 – 15	New Zealand	Australia
1991	24 August	Eden Park, Auckland	New Zealand	6 – 3	Australia	New Zealand
	10 August	Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney, New South Wales	Australia	21 – 12	New Zealand	Australia
1990	18 August	Athletic Park, Wellington	New Zealand	9 – 21	Australia	Australia
	4 August	Eden Park, Auckland	New Zealand	27 – 17	Australia	New Zealand
	21 July	Lancaster Park, Christchurch	New Zealand	21 – 6	Australia	New Zealand
1989	5 August	Eden Park, Auckland	New Zealand	24 – 12	Australia	New Zealand
1988	30 July	Concord Oval, Sydney, New South Wales	Australia	9 – 30	New Zealand	New Zealand
	16 July	Ballymore Stadium, Brisbane, Queensland	Australia	19 – 19	New Zealand	draw
	3 July	Concord Oval, Sydney, New South Wales	Australia	7 – 32	New Zealand	New Zealand
1987	25 July	Concord Oval, Sydney, New South Wales	Australia	16 – 30	New Zealand	New Zealand
1986	6 September	Eden Park, Auckland	New Zealand	9 – 22	Australia	Australia
	23 August	Carisbrook, Dunedin	New Zealand	13 – 12	Australia	New Zealand
	9 August	Athletic Park, Wellington	New Zealand	12 – 13	Australia	Australia
1985	29 June	Eden Park, Auckland	New Zealand	10 – 9	Australia	New Zealand
1984	18 August	Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney, New South Wales	Australia	24 – 25	New Zealand	New Zealand
	4 August	Ballymore Stadium, Brisbane, Queensland	Australia	15 – 19	New Zealand	New Zealand
	21 July	Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney, New South Wales	Australia	16 – 9	New Zealand	Australia
1983	20 August	Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney, New South Wales	Australia	8 – 18	New Zealand	New Zealand
1982	11 September	Eden Park, Auckland	New Zealand	33 – 18	Australia	New Zealand
	28 August	Athletic Park, Wellington	New Zealand	16 – 19	Australia	Australia
	14 August	Lancaster Park, Christchurch	New Zealand	23 – 16	Australia	New Zealand
1980	12 July	Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney, New South Wales	Australia	26 – 10	New Zealand	Australia
	28 June	Ballymore Stadium, Brisbane, Queensland	Australia	9 – 12	New Zealand	New Zealand
	21 June	Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney, New South Wales	Australia	13 – 9	New Zealand	Australia
1979	28 July	Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney, New South Wales	Australia	12 – 6	New Zealand	Australia
1978	9 September	Eden Park, Auckland	New Zealand	16 – 30	Australia	Australia
	26 August	Lancaster Park, Christchurch	New Zealand	22 – 6	Australia	New Zealand
	19 August	Athletic Park, Wellington	New Zealand	13 – 12	Australia	New Zealand
1974	8 June 1974	Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney, New South Wales	Australia	6 – 16	New Zealand	New Zealand
	1 June 1974	Ballymore Stadium, Brisbane, Queensland	Australia	16 – 16	New Zealand	draw
	25 May 1974	Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney, New South Wales	Australia	6 – 11	New Zealand	New Zealand
1972	16 September 1972	Eden Park, Auckland	New Zealand	38 – 3	Australia	New Zealand
	2 September 1972	Lancaster Park, Christchurch	New Zealand	30 – 17	Australia	New Zealand
	19 August 1972	Athletic Park, Wellington	New Zealand	29 – 6	Australia	New Zealand
1968	22 June 1968	Ballymore Stadium, Brisbane, Queensland	Australia	18 – 19	New Zealand	New Zealand
	15 June 1968	Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney, New South Wales	Australia	11 – 27	New Zealand	New Zealand
1967	19 August 1967	Athletic Park, Wellington	New Zealand	29 – 9	Australia	New Zealand
1964	29 August 1964	Athletic Park, Wellington	New Zealand	5 – 20	Australia	Australia
	22 August 1964	Lancaster Park, Christchurch	New Zealand	18 – 3	Australia	New Zealand
	15 August 1964	Carisbrook, Dunedin	New Zealand	14 – 9	Australia	New Zealand
1962	22 September 1962	Eden Park, Auckland	New Zealand	16 – 8	Australia	New Zealand
	8 September 1962	Carisbrook, Dunedin	New Zealand	3 – 0	Australia	New Zealand
	25 August 1962	Athletic Park, Wellington	New Zealand	9 – 9	Australia	draw
	4 June 1962	Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney, New South Wales	Australia	5 – 14	New Zealand	New Zealand
	26 May 1962	Exhibition Ground, Brisbane, Queensland	Australia	6 – 20	New Zealand	New Zealand
1958	20 September 1958	Epsom Showgrounds, Auckland	New Zealand	17 – 8	Australia	New Zealand
	6 September 1958	Lancaster Park, Christchurch	New Zealand	3 – 6	Australia	Australia
	23 August 1958	Athletic Park, Wellington	New Zealand	25 – 3	Australia	New Zealand
1957	1 June 1957	Exhibition Ground, Brisbane, Queensland	Australia	9 – 22	New Zealand	New Zealand
	25 May 1957	Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney, New South Wales	Australia	11 – 25	New Zealand	New Zealand
1955	17 September 1955	Eden Park, Auckland	New Zealand	3 – 8	Australia	Australia
	3 September 1955	Carisbrook, Dunedin	New Zealand	8 – 0	Australia	New Zealand
	20 August 1955	Athletic Park, Wellington	New Zealand	16 – 8	Australia	New Zealand
1952	13 September 1952	Athletic Park, Wellington	New Zealand	15 – 8	Australia	New Zealand
	6 September 1952	Lancaster Park, Christchurch	New Zealand	9 – 14	Australia	Australia
1951	21 July 1951	Woolloongabba Ground, Brisbane, Queensland	Australia	6 – 16	New Zealand	New Zealand
	7 July 1951	Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney, New South Wales	Australia	11 – 17	New Zealand	New Zealand
	23 June 1951	Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney, New South Wales	Australia	0 – 8	New Zealand	New Zealand
1949	24 September 1949	Eden Park, Auckland	New Zealand	9 – 16	Australia	Australia
	3 September 1949	Athletic Park, Wellington	New Zealand	6 – 11	Australia	Australia
1947	28 June 1947	Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney, New South Wales	Australia	14 – 27	New Zealand	New Zealand
	14 June 1947	Exhibition Ground, Brisbane, Queensland	Australia	5 – 13	New Zealand	New Zealand
1946	28 September 1946	Eden Park, Auckland	New Zealand	14 – 10	Australia	New Zealand
	14 September 1946	Carisbrook, Dunedin	New Zealand	31 – 8	Australia	New Zealand
1938	13 August	Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney, New South Wales	Australia	6 – 14	New Zealand	New Zealand
	6 August	Exhibition Ground, Brisbane, Queensland	Australia	14 – 20	New Zealand	New Zealand
	23 July	Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney, New South Wales	Australia	9 – 24	New Zealand	New Zealand
1936	12 September	Carisbrook, Dunedin	New Zealand	38 – 13	Australia	New Zealand
	5 September	Athletic Park, Wellington	New Zealand	11 – 6	Australia	New Zealand
1934	25 August	Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney, New South Wales	Australia	3 – 3	New Zealand	draw
	11 August	Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney, New South Wales	Australia	25 – 11	New Zealand	Australia
1932	23 July 1932	Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney, New South Wales	Australia	13 – 21	New Zealand	New Zealand
	16 July	Exhibition Ground, Brisbane, Queensland	Australia	3 – 21	New Zealand	New Zealand
	2 July	Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney, New South Wales	Australia	22 – 17	New Zealand	Australia

Overall

Most titles won:

1. New Zealand - 43 (including 1931)
2. Australia - 12

Longest time held by Australia: 5 years (1998–2002) (5 Titles)

Longest time held by New Zealand: 28 years (1951–1978) (12 Titles)

By Year

See also

• History of rugby union matches between Australia and New Zealand
• Rugby union trophies and awards

Notes

External links

• Bledisloe Cup Live
• Bledisloe Cup on rugby.com.au