The Wallabies will once again have to visit their hoodoo ground, Eden Park, on their conquest to win back the Bledisloe Cup for the first time since 2002, after SANZAAR confirmed the full Rugby Championship fixture list on Friday.
It is the third time in a row that the Wallabies have opened their Rugby Championship campaign with back-to-back Bledisloe Cup matches – the first in Australia, the second in New Zealand.
The hope for Rugby Australia is that the Wallabies can get the jump on the All Blacks and win the first match, making sure of a deciding third Bledisloe Cup match – this year to be played in Yokohama, Japan.
But New Zealand have spoiled the party in the last two years, winning the first two matches, making the third match redundant.
In the last two years New Zealand have even given the Wallabies a chance – holding the second match in Wellington in 2016 (won 29-9 by New Zealand) and Dunedin last season where Australia were unlucky to lose 35-29 due to a late try to Beauden Barrett.
But back at fortress Eden Park in Auckland, the graveyard for so many Australian teams over the years, where the Wallabies have not won for 32 years – the task gets even harder.
The team who benefit from the Wallabies-All Blacks double-header are the Springboks, and Rassie Erasmus’ first ever Rugby Championship as head coach begins with the much more palatable task of Argentina in Durban.
It served South Africa well last year as they won their back-to-back matches against the Pumas to get their tournament off to the perfect start.
However they fell away badly, failing to win another match with two draws against the Wallabies and two losses against the All Blacks, including a 57-0 hammering in Albany.
Other interesting storylines include the Wallabies visiting Salta for the first time to play the Pumas, as well as returning to Port Elizabeth for the first time in 55 years to face the Springboks.
South Africa, in a not so wise move, are taking their clash with the All Blacks to Pretoria where they last won against New Zealand in 1970 and have lost the last four matches by an average of 19.5 points.
The All Blacks will host the Boks in Wellington where the last time they failed to win was against Nick Mallett’s Springboks in 1998.
The Rugby Championship 2018 fixture list
August 18:
Australia v New Zealand – ANZ Stadium, Sydney
South Africa v Argentina – Kings Park, Durban
August 25:
New Zealand v Australia – Eden Park, Auckland
Argentina v South Africa – Estadio Malvinas Argentinas, Mendoza
September 8:
New Zealand v Argentina – Trafalgar Park, Nelson
Australia v South Africa – Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane
September 15:
New Zealand v South Africa – Westpac Stadium, Wellington
Australia v Argentina – cBus Super Stadium, Gold Coast
September 29:
South Africa v Australia – Nelson Mandela Stadium, Port Elizabeth
Argentina v New Zealand – Estadio Velez Sarsfield, Buenos Aires
October 6:
South Africa New Zealand – Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria
Argentina v Australia – Estadio Padre Ernesto Martearena, Salta