The New Zealand Herald can reveal the competition, originally scheduled for New Zealand and Australia before outbreaks of the Delta variant of Covid-19 on both sides of the Tasman forced a last-minute rethink, will proceed as planned down under - despite interest in hosting it in Europe and South Africa.
New Zealand Rugby came in for fierce criticism for deciding against leaving for Perth at the weekend, after failing to secure assurance from Rugby Australia that the Rugby Championship would go ahead.
With New Zealand's borders shut amidst a nationwide lockdown due to the most recent community outbreak, the All Blacks face up to 15 weeks away from home.
The Herald understands it was confirmed at a Sanzaar board meeting last night that the final test in the Bledisloe Cup will be played at Opta Stadium in Perth on September 4.
The test doubles as the All Blacks' second clash in the Rugby Championship.
The All Blacks will then depart for Queensland for the rest of the Rugby Championship after the state government agreed to have the travelling South African and Argentinian teams quarantine there.
Late last week, NZR cited the continued uncertainty surrounding whether Europe, Queensland or South Africa would host the four-nation tournament as the rationale for not sending the All Blacks over the weekend.
With no MIQ spots available for the All Blacks until November, once the team leaves New Zealand it cannot return until then. NZR, therefore, wanted certainty about the Rugby Championship destination before being away from home for up to 14 weeks.
