Extra seating for Wellington test?
Dunedin on standby for Eden Park
A Wellington crowd rivalling the 37,000-plus who flocked for the British and Irish Lions in 2017 is in prospect for the All Blacks’ Bledisloe Cup opener next month.
But the second test at Auckland’s Eden Park remains under a Covid cloud, with Dunedin’s Forsyth Barr Stadium on standby to host the match should Auckland remain in alert level 2.
As Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern confirmed a shift to alert level 1 today for all regions outside Auckland, plans took shape for the much-awaited test against Dave Rennie’s Wallabies at Sky Stadium on Sunday, October 11.
NZ Rugby announced yesterday that pre-sales for Wellington would start next Tuesday (September 29) and public sales two days later on
October 1. Tickets are sure to be snapped up with no crowd restrictions for the All Blacks’ first test in almost a year.
Wellington Rugby co-organise the test with NZR and its chief executive Matt Evans said talks were under way about the likely capacity for the rare Sunday afternoon match.
Sky Stadium’s standard capacity is 34,500 but there is provision for temporary seating.
In 2017 the Lions played to a crowd of 37,121 against the Hurricanes, then 37,283 against the All Blacks four days later on July 1.
‘‘There’s two schools of thought: one is, you concentrate on what you know and sell out the 34,500 we’ve got already.
‘‘But we’ve already anticipated the demand could be pretty high for this, a pretty unique afternoon test match kickoff slot, so we’re very much looking at the option of temporary seats,’’ Evans told Stuff.
Evans said a decision would be made in the next day or two, as to whether to boost capacity up to around 37,000.
‘‘It’s a possibility but nothing is locked in… we might be looking at another 2000-2500 temporary seats.’’
In a statement, NZ Rugby said tickets to the second Bledisloe on October 18 would go on sale the week of Monday, October 5, pending Government confirmation Auckland will move to level 1.
NZR general manager professional rugby Chris Lendrum said: ‘‘We are confident the match will go ahead at Eden Park, but we are also making responsible contingency plans as we have all the way through Covid-19.
‘‘Our preference and intention is to play the match at Eden Park, but if we can’t have crowds due to alert levels we will look to move the match to Forsyth Barr Stadium in Dunedin.
Sydney’s Daily Telegraph reported the Wallabies would assemble in Sydney this week then fly to New Zealand next week, setting up in Christchurch, where the Government has assigned them hotel quarantine and training hubs for 14 days.
They will look to then set up a base in Queenstown before they fly in and out of Wellington and Auckland – if confirmed – for the games on October 11 and 18.
Meanwhile, Sky Stadium will be the first to welcome back crowds under level 1 for Friday night’s NPC double-header.
Wellington Pride host Manawatu at 4.35pm in Farah Palmer Cup, followed by Wellington Lions against Bay of Plenty in Mitre 10 Cup at 7.05pm.
Blanket availability of All Blacks is finished, but some could yet be released to their provincial unions in the coming weeks.
Ian Foster’s 35-man national squad, which is set to balloon by another 11 players shortly, formed in Whakata¯ne today to begin preparing for the two looming Bledisloe Cup tests against Australia on home soil.
Another three-day camp is set for Hamilton next week, before the All Blacks base themselves in Wellington leading into Bledisloe I on October 11.
So, forget about the top dogs fronting again. It was fun while it lasted, but Taranaki are almost certain to be without Beauden and Jordie Barrett for their Ranfurly Shield defence against Otago in Inglewood on Sunday.
Auckland and Canterbury, the teams most populated with All Blacks, will have to bounce back from round two defeats without All Black-laden sides.
‘‘All we’ve heard is that there may be some players released on a case-by-case scenario. Exactly when we find out, I’m not sure,’’ Canterbury coach Reuben Thorne said. ‘‘We’ve got a plan to be without them, and if we get one or two drop back in at some stage, that’s a bonus.’’
Given players are in camp in Whakata¯ne until tomorrow, teams shouldn’t expect to be notified before then.
If Thorne gets anyone back for Saturday night’s match against Hawke’s Bay in Napier, loose forward Cullen Grace is a prime candidate. He’s already missed a stack of rugby this year due to a broken thumb, and it’s unlikely the rookie will be thrown straight into the All Blacks’ 23 for the opening two Bledisloe tests.
Not when Foster’s loose forward department also includes
Sam Cane, Shannon Frizell, Akira Ioane, Dalton Papalii, Ardie Savea and Hoskins Sotutu.
As for when Foster names another 11 players to his whopping squad to travel to Australia for the Rugby Championship in November-December, he indicated last week he would decide in the ‘‘next week or two’’, giving players ample time to prepare for nine weeks away.
Whether or not Thorne gets a helping hand from All Blacks management this week, he is demanding better against the Magpies after coughing up the Ranfurly Shield to Taranaki in Christchurch at the weekend.
The 23-22 defeat buried their 16th tenure at just three defences, and doubled as the red and blacks’ first loss under co-head coaches Thorne and Mark
Brown.
The former All Blacks skipper was stung by the defeat, given his team spluttered out of the sheds, didn’t execute the game plan, falling into an early 13-3 hole, and 20-3 halftime deficit. ‘‘At the end of the day, when we look at that game, we will reflect on a pretty average start. You can’t give a team with the quality Taranaki had a head start and expect to come back,’’ Thorne said.
‘‘[But] the fact that we were able to start poorly and comeback, we didn’t drop our heads, we got into the shed at halftime and the talk was all really positive and constructive, we sorted out things we needed to and had a much better second half and almost pulled off a really good comeback.’’