Hong Kong will host a Bledisloe Cup match between New Zealand and Australia on November 1, the New Zealand and Australian Rugby Unions said yesterday.

It will be the first time the two great rivals have met in a rugby test outside New Zealand or Australia, except in a Rugby World Cup.

The 2008 Bledisloe Cup will be decided over four matches, three to be played as part of the annual Tri-Nations tournament and the one test in Hong Kong. "Together with our partner rugby unions, we are excited to accept Hong Kong's invitation to stage the first rugby international in Asia to feature two of the world's top teams," NZRU chief executive Steve Tew said in a statement.

"The match will make history and help promote rugby in a part of the world where it is developing quickly."

ARU chief executive John O'Neill said the clash between the All Blacks and Wallabies would be no exhibition. "Australia and New Zealand are great sporting rivals and the Bledisloe Cup is always fiercely contested," O'Neill said.

"November's match will be no different. It promises to be a full-blooded encounter between two of the sport's heavyweights."

The Bledisloe Cup trophy was first awarded to the winning team in 1932. The All Blacks have held it since 2003.

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