THE RUGBY CHAMPIONSHIP TO FEATURE SPRINGBOKS RETURN TO PERTH

The Qantas Wallabies will take on two-time World Cup champions South Africa at Subiaco Oval in Perth when the game’s latest jewel in the crown – The Castrol Edge Rugby Championship – is launched next year.

Australian Rugby Union today revealed the name, the logo and the draw for The Castrol Edge Rugby Championship which replaces the Tri Nations series next year following the inclusion of Argentina alongside the Wallabies, All Blacks and Springboks.

The Castrol Edge Rugby Championship will involve six Tests for each of the four competing nations as they play each other home and away in the ultimate contest for southern hemisphere heavyweights.

For the Qantas Wallabies the ground-breaking Championship includes a Rugby World Cup quarter finals re-match against South Africa on Saturday, 8 September.

The showdown – featuring the Tri Nations champions the Wallabies and the side they held off 11-9 in a World Cup thriller in Wellington last month – will also be the first under a new three-year agreement with Events WA to take Tests to the west.

The Qantas Wallabies will open The Rugby Championship in 2012 with a Bledisloe Cup Test against New Zealand at ANZ Stadium in Sydney on Saturday, 18 August.

The remaining two home matches for the Australians in 2012 will be against South Africa in Perth, and against Argentina at Skilled Park, Gold Coast, on Saturday, 15 September.

The Test against the Pumas will be the first the Qantas Wallabies have played on the Gold Coast.

Newcastle will also debut as a Test venue in early 2012 when Ausgrid Stadium hosts The Castrol Edge Rugby International between the Wallabies and Scotland on Tuesday, 5 June.

Meantime, the Bledisloe Cup series in 2012 will be decided across three matches – in Sydney (18 August), Auckland (25 August) and Brisbane (20 October).

The first two Tests will be played as part of The Castrol Edge Rugby Championship. The last will be played as a stand-alone.

Australian Rugby Union Managing Director and CEO, John O’Neill AO, said confirmation of The Rugby Championship underlined the ongoing evolution of the game in the southern hemisphere since the code went professional in 1996.

“To bring the Qantas Wallabies back to Perth after an absence last year due to Rugby World Cup is hugely exciting, and we know the Springboks will be well received as they have been in the past,” said Mr O’Neill.

“Anyone who saw the Rugby World Cup quarter finals between these two nations will know how much intensity will surround the match at Subiaco next year.

“The Springboks will be craving revenge and the Qantas Wallabies will want to prove why they have ended 2011 ranked No.2 on the official International Rugby Board rankings.”

Mr O’Neill said the Perth Test would form part of what would be a memorable 2012 international program.

“Launching The Rugby Championship is wonderful for the game,” Mr O’Neill said.

“Australia, New Zealand and South Africa have won six of the seven Rugby World Cups contested and Argentina reached the semi finals in 2007 and tested the All Blacks in a tough quarter final of the 2011 RWC.

"Argentina has waited a long time to play in a regular competition at the highest level and their inclusion into The Castrol Edge Rugby Championship from 2012 provides that opportunity.

“To bring our four nations together and have them playing home and away in destinations so diverse in culture, weather and landscape will be spectacular.

“This will be the best of the best. It is why the name The Rugby Championship sits so comfortably.”

West Australian Minister for Tourism, Dr Kim Hames, welcomed the return of the Qantas Wallabies and said he looked forward to hosting one of the new Castrol Edge Rugby Championship fixtures.

“It is pleasing to see the Qantas Wallabies retuning to Perth in 2012, for what will be the first of a number of Test matches over the coming three years,” Dr Hames said.

“Rugby has a strong following in Western Australia and we expect spectators will be thrilled to see some of the world’s best players in action in what will be a fantastic re-match of the Rugby World Cup quarter.

“The West Australian Government, through Eventscorp, has worked closely with ARU to secure more international fixtures in the coming years and I look forward to seeing more high quality international Rugby Tests played in WA.”

The Castrol Edge Rugby Championship will kick-off in 2012 on 18 August and conclude on 6 October 2012.

To balance additional travel requirements due to the inclusion of a fourth team to the former Tri Nations, fixtures have been scheduled in two-week blocks with week-long travel byes in-between.

Kick-off times and ticket on sale dates for all 2012 Tests will be announced next year.