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BRODY DOLAN / Things
Taranaki rookie Jordie Barrett dashes through the Bay of Plenty defense to score the home team’s final try in a 36-29 win.
Inglewood’s TET Stadium has hosted larger sporting crowds, but never a national rugby championship game seen by more than 1000 spectators under Covid-19 alert level 2 restrictions.
The smallest venue of all the grounds that hosted Miter 10 games over the weekend lit it up for spectators at the Taranaki v Bay of Plenty match on Sunday.
BRODY DOLAN / Things
Tom Florence and Kaylum Boshier of Taranaki stop Bay of Plenty
The game had the added bonus of having Taranaki All Blacks Beauden and Jordie Barrett, and All Black captain Sam Cane, in the colors of the Bay of Plenty, plus a large contingent of Super Rugby Aotearoa players.
The attendance of the public was the highest of all the venues that hosted the Miter 10 premiership and championship games during the weekend.
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The Inglewood site has temporarily replaced Yarrow Stadium, which is being repaired due to earthquake hazards in two bleachers.
Taranaki supporter Shane Bublitz said the Taranaki Rugby Union should be commended for its organization.
BRODY DOLAN / Things
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“To think that we can be here watching a game live during alert level 2 is a real advantage,” he said.
Spectators with season tickets were herded to the ground in eight groups of 100, either in the stands or behind the goal posts at either end of the field.
A further 200 spectators were allocated space in two corporate areas, each with a capacity of 100 people, while another 100 tickets were allocated to family and friends of the players in a temporary grandstand.
BRODY DOLAN / Things
Taranaki Bulls supporters, left to right, Aaron Johnston, Johnny Walker and Jarred Lockley bask in their Covid-19 Level 2 alert capsule of 100 at TET Stadium in Inglewood on Sunday.
Taranaki Rugby Union CEO Laurence Corlett said that separating more than 1,000 people on the ground had worked well under the Level 2 alert conditions that had been verified before the game by the Ministry of Health and the police.
“All groups of 100 entered the ground through separate entrances and exited the same way,” he said.
No group could mix before, during or after the game.
“We were very happy with the numbers that we could see,” he said.
Corlett said TRU would review the game Monday to determine if improvements were needed for the next home game in Inglewood on Sept. 27.
BRODY DOLAN / Things
Taranaki rugby supporters Ant Roebuck (left) and Hayden Markham enjoy hospitality at Inglewood’s TET Stadium.
TET Stadium President Lyall Bunn said the game was the first opportunity for many spectators to experience world-class rugby on the Inglewood field.
“We would have liked more people, of course, but under the Covid-19 restrictions, the union should be congratulated for its hard work during a difficult time,” he said.
BRODY DOLAN / Things
New All Black signing Tupou Vaa’i managed to fight his way through the Bay of Plenty backline while holding the ball in hand and scoring a try.
Bunn said the trust and the union had agreed that a solution to host games with Alert 2 restrictions was always “feasible.”
Taranaki supporters Pat Kennedy and Tim Brown, both from Inglewood, watched the game from their group of 100 behind the south posts.
“It was great to be able to see the game up close and you never get a chance on the bigger fields,” Kennedy said.
