Boks start at home in 2007
Wednesday October 11 2006
Tri-Nations draw announcedSouth Africa, who finished last in the extended version of the Tri-Nations this year, will have home ground advantage in the opening rounds when the competition reverts back to a six-match format in 2007.
This past year the Boks started with a three-match, month-long away leg - which turned out to be a major disaster for the South Africans, who lost all their matches in Australasia. When they returned home they managed to win two of their three matches, but by then the All Blacks had already wrapped up the series.
The South African, New Zealand and Australian Rugby Unions (SANZAR) on Wednesday confirmed the 2007 Tri-Nations draw - which has the All Blacks on the road for the first half of the tournament and playing at home in the last two matches.
Next year's Tri-Nations series will be contracted to a six-Test tournament (two home matches each) to allow for the Rugby World Cup which kicks off on 7 September.
The draw has been scheduled to ensure that no teams plays more than two matches in a row, with the early finish giving the Springboks, All Blacks and Wallabies seven full weeks before the start of the Rugby World Cup.
The Springboks will host the first two matches of the series when they take on the Wallabies on 16 June, then the All Blacks on 23 June. Both venues for the Springboks home matches will be confirmed by the South African Rugby Union in due course.
The action then heads to Australia on 30 June when the Wallabies host the All Blacks at Melbourne's MCG for the first time since 1998. The next week the Wallabies will play the Springboks at Sydney's Telstra Stadium (7 July), before the last two Test matches in New Zealand.
Jade Stadium, Christchurch will be the venue for the All Blacks' Test against the Springboks on 14 July. The series wraps up with the return Bledisloe Cup Test on 21 July at Auckland's Eden Park.
The Tri-Nations will revert back to an expanded nine-Test series from 2008 onwards.
2007 Tri-Nations draw:
16 June: Springboks v Wallabies, TBC, 15.00 (13.00 GMT)
23 June: Springboks v All Blacks, TBC, 15.00 (13.00 GMT)
30 June: Wallabies v All Blacks, MCG, Melbourne, TBC
7 July: Wallabies v Springboks, Telstra Stadium, Sydney, TBC
14 July: All Blacks v Springboks, Jade Stadium, Christchurch, 19.35 (07.35 GMT)
21 July: All Blacks v Wallabies, Eden Park, Auckland, 19.35 (07.35 GMT)
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