NZR said it was working with the New Zealand Government to finalise confirmation of a travel exemption for the Wallabies to travel to New Zealand this week to prepare for the match.
NZR General Manager Professional Rugby & Performance Chris Lendrum said contingency plans were progressing positively following Friday's (23 July) announcement of the travel bubble pause.
"There are some obvious logistical challenges for the Bledisloe Cup Series and the Rugby Championship, but we have made some great progress and are confident we are moving toward a positive outcome," he said.
"Importantly, we are anticipating Australia will be in New Zealand this week to prepare for the first Bledisloe Cup Test at Eden Park, which is great news for the large number of fans who have already bought tickets and great news for Auckland and Eden Park."
The second and third tests were originally scheduled for Perth (21 August) and Wellington (28 August) but that is likely to change.
Earlier today, Wallabies coach Dave Rennie was adamant that Perth would host at least one of the matches - suggesting it be moved to August 14 or a later date.
"We want to have a Bledisloe Cup fixture in Wellington this year and we need to keep working with the All Blacks and Sanzaar to make it work. We are also very keen to get to Australia to play that fixture," Lendrum said.
"Covid has taught us you have to compromise with the order of things to make everything work. It's not ideal but that's the way it will be. There's a range of options around hosting in Wellington. We are still only 72 hours into this [the Government announcement] and we are hoping to confirm a date and venue for that second game in New Zealand before the end of the week."
Asked about the impact on the Rugby Championship schedule, Lendrum said Sanzaar, along with its member unions – NZR, Rugby Australia, South African Rugby and the Argentina Rugby Union - will announce schedule changes in due course.
"There are a lot of moving parts, but together with our Sanzaar partners a lot of people are working incredibly hard to ensure both competitions can progress in a way that's safe and fair, as well as in the best interests of fans and other stakeholders," Lendrum said.
"As always our decisions will continue to be guided by the advice of relevant Government and health authorities with the health and safety of our people at the forefront of any decisions.
"We would plan on remaining in Australia and the two tests against Argentina will be played in Australia. We don't see any way to bring Argentina into New Zealand for those games. We would have loved to have had them at home but that's not to be. The travel pause does allow us to contemplate playing South Africa in two fixtures in New Zealand," Lendrum said.
"All planning is still for those to occur in Auckland. The options for Wellington are the 14th or we look to another venue to host."
