Ireland To Play All Blacks in Chicago

The Irish rugby team is to break new ground by playing New Zealand in Chicago next November, with a return fixture against the back-to-back World Cup champions to be held in the Aviva Stadium later in that same autumnal window.

Ireland will meet the All Blacks in Soldier Field, Chicago, on Saturday, November 5th, before hosting a Tier 2 country a week later at the Aviva Stadium. They will then play New Zealand again on November 19th as a prelude to rounding off a busy November window and year with a game against the World Cup finalists Australia on the 26th.

Soldier Field, which is home to the Chicago Bears American football teams, hosted its first international rugby union test match when the All Blacks beat the United States 74-6 in November 2014. The match was a 61,500 sell-out, and although only 23,112 attended Australia’s 47-10 win over the USA Eagles in a World Cup warm-up match last September, it will be a surprise if the combined popularity of both Ireland and the All Blacks did not ensure a sell-out for their meeting next November.

Ireland’s November 2016 schedule

Saturday 5th: Ireland v New Zealand, Soldier Field, Chicago.

Saturday 12th: Ireland v Tier 2 team, Aviva Stadium.

Saturday 19th: Ireland v New Zealand, Aviva Stadium.

Saturday 26th: Ireland v Australia, Aviva Stadium.