Ireland is due in July for a Test in Sydney during July of 2023.
The gardeners at the SCG will have until then to get the turf properly prepared.
To our amazement, there has not been a rugby Test at SCG in almost 35 years.
It was 1986 when the Wallabies beat Argentina 26 – 0.
Rugby Australia decided it was time to resume at SCG for pragmatic reasons. Along with SCG holding almost 50,000, both Allianz and ANZ Stadium are getting freshens.
“The Sydney Cricket Ground is one of the most iconic venues in Australian sport and has hosted some of the most famous Rugby Test matches ever played in this country,” Rugby Australia Chief Executive, Raelene Castle said on Friday.
The Test at SCG will be the second for Ireland in Australia. They will play the Wallabies on 4 July at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane.
Australia won there last year when Ireland toured and to the objective, the series was a ripper.
Australia won 18 – 9 in Brisbane. When the series moved to Melbourne, Ireland was the winner by a narrow 26- 21 score before winning the decider 20 – 16 at Allianz Stadium.
It was Ireland’s first successive series on Australian soil since 1979.
In other union news, England have no plans to part ways with Eddie Jones. They are keen to retain him through the 2023 Rugby World Cup in France. Jones is contracted through August on 2021 and the idea that they are interested in extending Jones’ term this far ahead of the current contract expiration would tend to reinforce the belief that he is not being held solely culpable for the 2019 Rugby World Cup loss to South Africa.
From a distance, it would seem as though England spent its charge in removing New Zealand, but South Africa gave New Zealand a run for the money in the two squads’ WC opener, so some may have taken that as a positive omen for the Springboks.
