Eden Park is the home of rugby in Auckland and New Zealand. It has been the venue for numerous major games including 2 World Cup Finals (1987 and 2011), so if you want to watch rugby in New Zealand, Eden Park is the place to be.
The rugby season starts in February with Super Rugby which is a competition made up of 5 teams from New Zealand, 5 from Australia, 6 from South Africa, 1 from Japan and 1 from Argentina. The local team, the Blues, are based at Eden Park but usually 1 game is played at Albany. A feature of Blues games is the opportunity for selfies with players post-match.
This competition culminates in the final in early August but has a 1 month break in June. During this break the New Zealand team, the All Blacks (World Cup winners in 1987, 2011 and 2015) play a series in New Zealand against a country from Europe and 1 match is at Eden Park but in 2017 2 matches are being played there.
Following the Super Rugby Final the All Blacks are back again and during this time the Championship is played and this consists of the All Blacks, Australia, South Africa and Argentina. One of these matches is held at Eden Park. At this time the All Blacks and Australia also compete for the Bledisloe Cup.
The rugby season’s last competition is the national championship, the Mitre 10 Cup, played among various regions of New Zealand and the local team is Auckland whose matches are at Eden Park. This runs from mid-August to the end of October.
All tickets include free public transport to and from Eden Park Rugby.
- Most matches kick off at 7.35pm but Mitre 10 Cup has some afternoon times.
- I always have a number of reserved seats which give an excellent view and are close to the action.
- Ticket prices vary with Mitre 10 Cup being the cheapest and All Blacks the most expensive. Tickets also vary depending on where the seats are in the stadium.
- Tickets can also be purchased at the gate for Super Rugby and Mitre 10 Cup matches. (All Blacks are sold out before match day)