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A crowd of some 47,000 is expected to arrive at Auckland’s Eden Park for the second Bledisloe Cup international match between New Zealand and Australia on Sunday.
Images of 31,000 fans without masks cheering on the three-time world champions at the first round in Wellington last weekend attracted a lot of attention on social media.
The envy of fans in countries where the sport is still played in empty stadiums will only get worse on Sunday when the All Blacks return to their spiritual home, where they are unbeaten in 43 games dating back to 1994.
Crowds are possible due to New Zealand’s relative success in fighting Covid-19, which appeared to have eliminated community transmission of the coronavirus earlier this year following a harsh national lockdown.
A renewed outbreak in Auckland in August was also brought under control with new lockdown measures and the NZR said on Tuesday that 40,000 tickets had already been purchased for Sunday’s game in the city.
“It was fantastic to see so many fans gathered in Wellington to [our] First test in over a year, and after such an exciting contest, the interest has gone to another level, ”said Chris Lendrum of NZR.
“We are now looking forward to bringing test rugby to New Zealand’s largest city and with over 40,000 tickets sold, it is shaping up to be a special occasion.”
The gripping draw on Sunday 16-16 was the rugby union’s first test after a seven-month hiatus caused by the pandemic, but fans have much more to look forward to over the next few months.
The Rugby Championship, which involves trans-Tasmanian rivals as well as world champions South Africa and Argentina, will be held in Australia starting with the third Bledisloe round at the Sydney Olympic Stadium on October 31.
The state government of New South Wales, where community transmission has dropped to a handful of cases each day, eased restrictions on large stadiums starting October 1 to allow them to be filled to 50% capacity.
That means that the three tests at the Olympic Stadium could be played in front of a crowd of 40,000 spectators, while the Western Sydney Stadium will be able to receive 15,000 fans in the four games it organizes.
