New Zealand Rugby is in negotiations to "add a fourth match to next year's All Blacks' end-of-year-tour" -- but it will not be against England, according to Aaron Goile of STUFF. NZR CEO Steve Tew said that plans "were in motion to lock in another game on a schedule that currently reads: France, Scotland and Wales." He said, "We've been talking to the All Blacks pretty much all year about what we will do in terms of an additional game, and that work is well underway as we speak. But it won't be England." It is the fixture that "fans on both sides of the world are hanging out for," with England's resurgence seeing the squad rise to No. 2 in the world, and "with a shot at breaking the All Blacks' test winning streak record during next year's Six Nations." However, with an end-of-year program which takes on a five-yearly schedule, Tew said that there just was not "the need to take on the men in white in what will be a big year anyway." Tew: "Next year the major focus for this team, clearly, is the British & Irish Lions." He added, "If it means we have to wait another 12 months to see who the best team is between the All Blacks and England, so be it. They might put the ticket prices up even more, which will be good for us because we get, oh no, zero percent." Tew said that the extra fixture "may not even be a test match, with a game against a club side a possibility." In terms of ticket sales for the marquee Lions tour, Tew said that the ballot was "magnificently over-subscribed" and he was "confident they would get close to a fully sold-out tour early next year" (STUFF, 12/19).
