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Rugby World Cup to kick-off in front of sold-out Eden Park crowd

(Photo by Phil Walter/Getty Images)

The opening match day of Rugby World Cup 2021, playing in 2022, at Eden Park on 8 October has officially sold out, with a record crowd set to fill New Zealand’s iconic national stadium.

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This will be the largest ever attendance at a standalone women’s sports event in New Zealand. Fans and players will be part of history, seeing the tournament kick off by becoming the most attended women’s Rugby World Cup match day ever, surpassing RWC 2014 finals day which was recorded as a sell out at the 20,000 capacity Stade Jean-Bouin stadium in France and RWC 2017 finals day which saw 17,115 watch the Black Ferns claim their fifth Rugby World Cup title.

It will be the first time in history that Eden Park has reached capacity for a women’s sports event and the attendance more than doubles the largest ever crowd for a standalone women’s sports event in New Zealand.

The record represents sky-rocketing interest in women’s rugby, building on the recent Laurie O’Reilly Cup series in August which saw 3,813 attend the Black Ferns v Wallaroos in Christchurch and the double-header with the All Blacks at Eden Park which saw crowds reach 8,727 at half-time of Black Ferns v Japan.

The opening match day sees a triple header with South Africa vs France kick off at 14:15, followed by Fiji vs England at 16:45 and Australia take on reigning champions New Zealand at 19:15.

NZ timeRugby World Cup 2021 Tournament Director, Michelle Hooper said: “On Saturday night, Aotearoa will send a strong message to the world that women’s rugby is due its rightful place in the spotlight with a sell-out crowd at Eden Park. Creating history for women’s sport and setting new records for women’s rugby, will undoubtedly elevate the women’s game to new heights for generations to come.”

Opening match day at Eden Park will set the tone for the greatest celebration of women’s rugby the world has ever seen, with international superstar Rita Ora taking to the stage at the conclusion of match two (Fiji v England), and at half time of the final match of the day when Australia face the Black Ferns.

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With the opening matchday now sold out, fans in New Zealand are urged not to miss the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to attend Rugby World Cup, which is being played across three venues from 8 October to 12 November.

Fans around the world can find out where to watch Rugby World Cup 2021 here.

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J
JW 6 hours ago
Western Force and ACT Brumbies looking for signs of progress in Super Rugby Pacific

Yeah, that’s what I was referring to too. You know in that situation the kind of things that form your picture of NRL or A league etc disappear in the case of kiwi rugby supporters, where they believe they have that advantage over aus rugby.


I have to put my hand up here. While I can see the reasoning behind a much better Reds, and even though they were good enough to win against the top 3 last year, I still don’t see them climbing (places) like you’d expect (all fair and reasonable points aside I mean).


But yes, I asked that because I do find aussie rugby supporters unique in this example of pragmatism. Look, I still think the circumstances dictate that it is why there isn’t more support for rugby in aus (they would need to win more like anything), but it is a) the kind of outlook that made my try to think of the SR standings in a way unassociated to nationality, and b) something that should be captured somehow and adopted by everyone.


Because I have no doubt SR died because of nationalism. Here, like with your above example, all there were for years were complaints of how better kiwi teams weren’t getting a deserved finals ranking. Now while the whole topic is complicated to get right, to have it get to the point where one side almost wants to kill it off and drive the otherside away is just not healthy.


I honestly think there are really easy things to do that could resolve the problem (if aus rugby culture couldn’t be copied/spread lol) like having even just a few players in each others teams. SR’s getting by right now because aussies population is so big there are still enough core fans that can have your outlook (though that survey said nearly a third also support another country?), but everything changes, and if the shoe is on the other foot at some time in the future I’d imagine that problem would “remain“ just long enough that NZ wouldn’t be able to “get by”.


There are just so many sports like SR that don’t have a parity system and end up with this sort of predictability that must be hard to ignore and get excited about. That its not down to something simple like being the richest is irrelevant. Visiting Japan it was really interesting to see how they had become supporters of these particular top sides. What do Canadians think about the Stanley Cup going to teams out of Law Vegas and Florida?

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