Reds to host Deans' Wild Knights at refurbished Ballymore

MELBOURNE : The Queensland Reds will play their first top-level match at their spiritual Ballymore home in 13 years when they meet Japan's Saitama Wild Knights for a pre-season game in November at the refurbished venue.

Relegated to the Reds' training ground for over a decade, the stadium in Brisbane's inner north has been given a new lease of life with a A$31.5 million ($20 million) renovation to build a base for the national women's team, the Wallaroos.

Ballymore, which hosted Rugby World Cup matches and Wallabies tests until 2000, is also earmarked for Olympic hockey at the 2032 Brisbane Games.

The Reds, under new coach Les Kiss, will face Robbie Deans's Wild Knights at the venue on Nov. 4, a year on from the teams' inaugural Queensland-Saitama Shield game in Japan, which the Reds won 55-30 at Kumagaya Rugby Stadium.

"We're excited to welcome the .... Wild Knights to Brisbane later this year," Kiss said in a statement on Thursday.

"The fixture will also be a great development opportunity.

"Eight players made their Queensland debut in last year's match over in Japan with two later awarded contracts, which further reinforces the value of this partnership for both clubs."

The Reds finished eighth in Super Rugby in 2023 in Brad Thorn's final season in charge, knocked out of the quarter-finals by New Zealand side Waikato Chiefs in Hamilton.

The Wild Knights finished runners-up to the Kubota Spears in Japan's top flight League One competition.

($1 = 1.5456 Australian dollars)