The Wallabies may have gone down in frustrating circumstances in their final home match of the year against the All Blacks - but in every other aspect, the Perth Bledisloe Test proved a worthy end to a record year for Australian rugby.
The 2025 domestic rugby season saw TV ratings and attendance figures smashed, following the British & Irish Lions tour and the Wallabies' impressive wins in the Rugby Championship.
Watch every match of the Wallabies' end-of-year tour live and on demand via Stan Sport.
Starting in Perth, the second Bledisloe Test match was a ratings smash for Nine, drawing a peak audience of 1.7 million and topping the Saturday night national TV ratings in every single age category.
The average audience ratings remained strong throughout the clash, averaging 893,000 - the largest average audience for a rugby Test since Nine acquired the rights, and surpassing the previous record set earlier in the year, which was the second Test against the Lions at the MCG.
Even pre-match and post-match reviews of the game performed well, each pulling in over half a million viewers.
The strong records also continued for the Bledisloe Cup match in Auckland, with Nine confirming the 33-24 result at Eden Park achieved the largest average audience for an NZ-based Bledisloe Cup Test match since Nine acquired rugby rights, with the previous record set in 2021.
The result was even more impressive, with the Auckland Test going head-to-head with the 2025 AFL Grand Final.
These numbers do not include Stan's broadcast numbers, but the streaming service confirmed that the Perth Test achieved the largest audience ever for a Bledisloe match on the platform.
The streaming platform revealed a double-digit percentage increase in the previous highest audience for a Bledisloe Test match with the Auckland Test, only for that record to be broken the following week in Perth.
Not only will the results likely please Nine, since acquiring the rugby broadcasting rights, but they have also been reflected in the most attended international season in Australia in over 20 years.
Across seven domestic Test matches in the 2025 rugby season, the Wallabies saw an astounding 373,168 fans through the gates, averaging 53,308 per game.
This included four sellout Test matches - the Brisbane and Sydney Tests in the Lions series, the Sydney Argentina Test match, and the Perth Bledisloe Test match.
The season also saw the Wallabies achieve record crowds in Newcastle and Melbourne, with the latter becoming the most-attended Lions Test match ever, with 90,307 in attendance.
Only the home World Cup in 2003 bettered the 2025 season in attendance numbers, with this season marking the strongest result for the Wallabies in over two decades.
With two World Cups on the horizon, it is a start to the much-fabled 'golden decade' that will bring a lot of smiles to rugby fans, with Rugby Australia CEO Phil Waugh taking time to acknowledge the results.
"The surge in positivity around Australian Rugby this year has been remarkable, and we are grateful to everyone who has attended games in person and watched on Stan Sport and Nine," Waugh said.
"The passion and support of the Australian public is something we never take for granted, and we will continue to work hard to ensure our game continues to grow at all levels.
"Record attendances and broadcast figures demonstrate the incredible potential of Australian Rugby.
"With a home Rugby World Cup approaching, we look forward to creating many more moments that unite and inspire Australians and entertain rugby fans around the world."
