Overview
- Organisers confirmed McDonald Jones Stadium in Newcastle will stage Ireland vs Japan on Saturday, July 11, with kick-off at 8:00 AEST.
- The match is a neutral fixture and the first such international hosted in Australia since COVID-19 halted similar events.
- It falls within Ireland’s southern-hemisphere run in the new cross-hemisphere Nations Championship, between Australia on July 4 and New Zealand on July 18.
- McDonald Jones Stadium seats about 33,000 and drew roughly 28,132 fans for Australia’s 21–18 win over Fiji last July.
- Rugby Australia and the Irish and Japanese unions framed the game as part of the build-up to Rugby World Cup 2027, with leaders Phil Waugh, Masato Tsuchida and John O’Driscoll welcoming the staging.