Argentina will host New Zealand for the first time in four years and also play a pre-World Cup warm-up test against world champions South Africa in 2023, the country’s rugby union (UAR) announced on Saturday.
Argentina will take on the All Blacks in Mendoza on July 8 in a slimmed down Rugby Championship, which has been reduced to just six matches because of the World Cup in France.
The four southern hemisphere countries who compete annually in the Rugby Championship usually play each other home and away but in 2023 it will be once only.
Argentina have a single home game against New Zealand, followed by Australia away on July 15 and South Africa on July 29.
The rest of the 2023 Rugby Championship fixtures have not yet been announced by SANZAR, the competition’s governing body.
The UAR said South Africa would then travel to Buenos Aires for a test on Aug. 5 at the Velez Sarsfield Stadium, which was not part of the Rugby Championship but a warm-up for the World Cup.
“We hope to have a great year, always trying to improve all aspects of our rugby, so that more and more people can enjoy the sport, either as athletes or spectators, and that we can continue to grow the passion for rugby,” said a statement from UAR president Gabriel Travaglini.
At the World Cup, Argentina are in Group D and take on England in Marseille in their opening game on Sept. 9, followed by matches against Samoa, Chile and Japan.
(Writing by Mark Gleeson in Cape Town; Editing by Christian Radnedge)
