In the 90 years since its inception, the Bledisloe Cup has had to – borrow from the great American sitcom Veep – maintains one common thread: continuity with changes.
interestingly, New Zealand Rugby and Rugby Australia they cannot agree on whether it was first played in 1931 or 1932. Both unions agree that Lord Bledisloe, Governor-General of New Zealand from 1930 to 1935, donated the giant trophy early in his reign, and unsurprisingly, both claim it was first played when they won.
But from 1931 or 1932 the format changed a lot. It has been played as a two-Test series for the past few years. Next year, with the addition of the ANZAC Day Bledisloe Test in Brisbane, it will return to the three-match series it was for most of the 2010s.
It has become a four-game series about the continuation of rugby after the Covid pandemic in 2020, as it was in the previous iteration from 2008 to 2010 when extra, lucrative ‘cash games’ were played in Hong Kong and Tokyo.
From 1999 to the early 2000s, the format was a two-match series. After enjoying a 3-0 run in 1998, this saw Australia hold on for five consecutive years – including three series draws – until 2002. The last time we held it, actually.
Before professionalism, however, it was everywhere; three tests in 1992, one-off tests in 1993 and 1994 (George Gregan match at Sydney Football Stadium), two games in 1995
During the 1980s, a one-year test would be followed by a complete tour of a trans-Tasman neighbor to another next year. Australia’s last win at Eden Park in the Auckland it was the third Test of the 1986 Australian tour, following a one-off Test at the same venue in 1985. The 1983 Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground was followed by a three-Test tour of New Zealand in 1984.
But from the early 1980s until its inception—whenever that was—it wasn’t necessarily played every year, or even every other year. Two-, three-, and even four-year spreads were quite common in the period from the 1930s to 1982.
And just as strangely, the cup itself disappeared for three decades in the midst of it all. The Wallabies won the two-Test series in New Zealand in 1949 – the last time they did so – and the cup was not seen again until 1979. It was discovered in a warehouse in Melbourne, of all places.
They paraded this massive glass on the ground and on the surface All black people said, ‘what is that?’ They hardly knew this thing existed.
Great Kiwi commentator Tony Johnson reminded me of all this just last week.
“The Wallabies were beaten in the first two Tests in 1978, so Bledisloe was decided,” Johnson explained on 8/9 Rugby podcast.
“But then they tore the All Blacks apart at Eden Park in the third Test; Ken Wright and Tony Melrose and Greg Cornelson scored his four tries, of course. Then the next year the All Blacks went to Australia and played a one-off Test at the SCG and Australia beat it.
“They paraded this huge glass around the ground and the All Blacks were saying, ‘what is that?’ They hardly knew this thing existed.”
It remains a mystery how such a huge trophy was later lost in Melbourne, which had just hosted its first Bledisloe Test in 1997, at the MCG.
This fascinating history of Bledisloe is the context behind the debate that has reignited on both sides of the Tasman. With the current two-Test series making it awfully difficult for the Wallabies to reclaim the Cup, the question has been raised as to whether the Bledisloe Cup should be on the cards every time Australia and New Zealand meet.
Certainly, a three-Test series would be an advantage. The one-off Test will almost certainly never happen again, given the bills both unions enjoy every year, so if it has to be a two-Test series, why not put it up for grabs every match?
Tony Johnson brought it up again in another discussion on New Zealand radio late last week.
“Some people are looking for it, you know. They might be thinking about just one Bledisloe Cup Test a year,” he said. “At this point, if you’re seeded, you only have to win one game. That’s how much the swing has swung in the seed’s favor.”
In bringing up this idea of changing the format, I admit that it could very easily be interpreted as just a last ditch effort by the Aussies to try and get their hands on the trophy.
It would be a big change, but it’s really interesting. And there seem to be two ways to do it.
The first would be to play the one-off Bledisloe Cup Test, followed by two more games in The Rugby Championship. I strongly suspect that the current success of ANZAC Bledisloe in Brisbane next year will lead to NZR wanting a piece of the action too, so you might as well put the Cup on the line for the one-off ANZAC Tests, which rotate in each country each year.
Another way would be to put it on the line for every match, like the challenge concept seen in various sports. In rugby terms, it is most recognizable in the Ranfurly Shield, played annually by provincial unions in New Zealand. Many in the trenches see the games for ‘Log O’Wood’ as what really keeps the provincial game going in NZ.
In bringing up this idea of changing the format, I admit that it could very easily be interpreted as just a last ditch effort by the Aussies to try and get their hands on the trophy.
There’s some truth to that, of course, but I don’t really lie awake at night thinking about concepts that could make acquiring the Bledisloe Cup more attainable. Trust me on that. But this idea is more intriguing because it was recently started by New Zealanders.
“The Bledisloe Cup is something that Australia really wants because it’s something that resonates with people,” Tony Johnson pointed out.
“During that era, that great era, when Australia held it and you had the likes of John Eales doing their thing and George Gregan and Stephen Larkham and who, holding the Bledisloe Cup was so important for Australia.
“And I think people on this side of the Tasman realize what that would do for the game in Australia. We all want the game to be strong. In New Zealand we need the game in Australia to be strong.”
It’s a really interesting discussion, but I think it comes down to one key point: would New Zealand rugby really be enough of a game to risk losing it after one loss, after holding it for 24 years?
Footnote: Lord Bledisloe also donated a trophy in the 1930s to the New Zealand Chess Federation for its inter-club championship, for which clubs compete each year for the… Bledisloe Cup! Otago beat Wellington to win the 2026 title on Sunday, a day after the All Blacks completed a clean sweep in Sydney.
