Source :- PERTH NOW NEWS
More Sunday games and a trans-Tasman stoush between the Queensland Reds and Auckland Blues on a blockbuster Anzac Day weekend double-header are two features of the 2027 Super Rugby Pacific draw.
The Reds’ and Blues’ depth will be tested when they clash at Suncorp Stadium in the only fixture of the round on the eve of the Wallabies versus All Blacks Bledisloe Cup battle in Brisbane on April 25.
Queensland on Monday had 12 players named in Les Kiss’s Wallabies squad to face South Africa in Perth on Saturday week and, with no bye in round 11 next year, the Reds for the first time will likely need to cope like depleted NRL teams during State of Origin weeks.
And just as the Wallabies and All Blacks square off on a Sunday afternoon, Super Rugby will showcase 10 Sunday games in 2027, six more than were scheduled this season.
Two of those Sunday games will involve the NSW Waratahs against the Crusaders and Western Force.
For the first time in 30 years, the Brumbies will host two matches at Manuka Oval, against the Force and Reds.
With no Moana Pasifika the 10-team competition has been expanded to a 17-round, 80-game regular season, which kicks off on Friday, February 12, with the Crusaders hosting the Reds at One New Zealand Stadium, before the Brumbies and Waratahs renew their rivalry in Canberra later that night.
As already announced, Super Round returns to Christchurch in round eight, with home-town heroes the Crusaders opening the footy festival with a Friday night showdown against the Brumbies.
“We’re delighted to deliver a 2027 draw that gives fans more to look forward to than ever before – Sunday footy, an epic Easter weekend, Super Round back in Christchurch, and a history-making Anzac weekend in Brisbane,” Super Rugby Pacific CEO Jack Mesley said.
“Every team begins the season with a clear ambition to win the title, but the stakes will be even higher next year, with the opening half of the season shaping as a shootout for Test jerseys ahead of the inaugural Anzac Bledisloe, and the Rugby World Cup coming sharply into view beyond it.
“Throw in all the traditional and emerging rivalries, and a new finals series where every game is sudden-death, and there will be more at stake in every Super Rugby Pacific fixture, from the opening whistle through to the grand final.”
