Fans can now secure their place to see All Blacks vs Ireland

Fans can now secure their place to see All Blacks vs Ireland in Chicago

American, Irish and New Zealand rugby fans are in for a feast of rugby when the All Blacks return to Soldier Field in Chicago to play Ireland for the first time on American soil and the Maori All Blacks take on the USA Eagles.

Demand for this match is expected to be significant and as the official travel agency for New Zealand Rugby, All Blacks Tours will be offering a range of tour packages to help fans witness these historic games. Tour packages will be available soon, but in the meantime fans and travel agents can 'Play Advantage' and secure their place with a refundable payment of $200. All Blacks Tours will send all those that 'Plays Advantage' full details of available packages before they go on sale to the general public, and they can redeem their $200 against any of the packages on offer for this tour. Visit www.allblackstours.com or phone 0800 87 2011 to Play Advantage now.

Dubbed “The Rugby Weekend”, the action kicks off on Friday, 4 November, at the 30,000 seat Toyota Park when the Maori All Blacks return to America for a re-match with the USA Eagles in only the fourth encounter between the two teams. In 2013 they defeated the USA Eagles 29-19 in Philadelphia.

The World Champions play the 2015 Six Nations Champions on Saturday 5 November at Soldier Field, home of the Chicago Bears. It’s the first encounter between the sides since the nail biting 2014 Dublin Test when the All Blacks pipped Ireland 24-22 in the dying seconds to complete a perfect unbeaten season.

The Chicago Test is just the fourth visit to the USA by the All Blacks and also marks two years since the historic match between the All Blacks and the USA Eagles when a record rugby crowd for the USA of 61,500 fans packed-out Soldier Field.

Both matches were confirmed at a media conference in Chicago this morning, attended by Ryan Crotty who scored the winning try for the All Blacks in 2013 and Ireland international Tommy Bowe.

All Blacks Head Coach Steve Hansen said: “The match against the USA Eagles in 2014 was a huge success and we are excited to again be returning to Chicago. It will certainly be a unique occasion for the team: playing Ireland in Chicago and then again in Dublin two weeks later. I’m sure All Blacks and Irish fans from all over North America and the world will descend on Chicago for what will be a truly historic match.”

USA Rugby CEO Nigel Melville said: “The city and its fans have shown the world how passionate they are about the sport, and we think this weekend will again take the game’s popularity to another level.”

All Blacks Tours will be offering both standalone packages to Chicago or the opportunity for fans to add the Chicago leg to the End of Year Tour to Europe where the All Blacks will face Italy, Ireland and France.

Match schedule
4 November Maori All Blacks v USA Eagles, Toyota Park, Chicago
5 November All Blacks v Ireland, Soldier Field, Chicago
12 November All Blacks v Italy, venue TBC
19 November All Blacks v Ireland, Aviva Stadium, Dublin
26 November All Blacks v France, Stade de France, Paris

ENDS

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