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AAP
AAP
Darren Walton

Wallabies' Rugby Championship Test with Springboks full

Wallabies and Springboks fans will pack sold-out Suncorp Stadium for the Rugby Championship opener. (Darren England/AAP PHOTOS)

The Wallabies' Rugby Championship opener against the world champion Springboks in Brisbane is officially a sellout.

Kicking off at 2:30pm, Saturday's rare afternoon Test match will be the first time that Suncorp Stadium will be packed to capacity for a Wallabies match since 2013 against the British and Irish Lions.


More than 50,000 fans will be in attendance.

"The response to this match shows that Australians and Queenslanders are right behind this Wallabies squad," Rugby Australia CEO Phil Waugh said on Wednesday.

"We are still building under Joe (Schmidt), and we have started the season reasonably well against Wales and Georgia, however the two-time defending Rugby World Cup Champions are a new and exciting challenge.

"Hopefully the beautiful Queensland weather on a Saturday afternoon should make for some entertaining day-time footy, and quite a spectacle for the fans in attendance."

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Harry Wilson took a swipe in the nets as the Wallabies met up with the Australian cricket team. (Darren England/AAP PHOTOS)

Unlike Sydney, where the Wallabies had won only once in 12 matches before last month's hard-earned victory over Georgia, Brisbane has become Australian rugby's burial ground for opposition teams.

Australia won 10 straight Tests, including beating South Africa and New Zealand both on multiple occasions, before having their Brisbane streak ended by Eddie Jones' England side in 2021.

The Wallabies will be back at Suncorp Stadium this weekend for the first time in three years as Schmidt's unbeaten charges look to restore the ground's reputation as a fortress.

"The boys are familiar with the ground and good weather up here also plays a part," said Wallabies lock Lukhan Salakaia-Loto.

"So I guess we win games here, we grow in confidence and it becomes a fortress the more you win.

"So (hopefully) we can keep that going."

The Suncorp Test is the first match of the Rugby Championship for both the Wallabies and Springboks as the tournament returns to a full format following the shortened version last year due to the World Cup.

Following the Brisbane clash, both sides will head to Perth for a second meeting in as many weeks on August 17 at Optus Stadium.

The Wallabies, who enjoyed a friendly net session with the Australian cricket team on Wednesday, will then set off for Argentina for two Tests against Los Pumas as the Springboks return home to host the All Blacks.

The Wallabies then return home for their final Test on home soil in September, with the first Bledisloe Cup Test against the All Blacks on Saturday afternoon September 21 at Sydney's Accor Stadium.

The Rugby Championship concludes a week later in Wellington with the return Bledisloe Cup leg.

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