Rugby League Park

Rugby League Park

Aerial view of Rugby League Park in July 2012
Former names Addington Showgrounds
Location 95 Jack Hinton Drive, Addington, Christchurch, New Zealand
Coordinates 43°32′37″S 172°36′15″E / 43.5437°S 172.6041°E / -43.5437; 172.6041Coordinates: 43°32′37″S 172°36′15″E / 43.5437°S 172.6041°E / -43.5437; 172.6041
Owner Canterbury Rugby League
Capacity 18,000[1]
Construction
Expanded 24 March 2012
Architect Populous
Tenants
Canterbury Bulls, South Island, Crusaders [2]

The Rugby League Park (currently known as AMI Stadium for sponsorship reasons) is a rugby league and rugby union stadium in Christchurch, New Zealand. Formerly called the Addington Showgrounds, the ground is owned by the Canterbury Rugby League.

History

The park is part of a complex with the Horncastle Arena and the Addington Raceway and has hosted international rugby league matches since the 1950s, including World Cup matches in 1975, 1977, 1988, 1990 and 1991.

The ground was bought by the Canterbury Rugby League from the Christchurch City Council in the 1990s.

It was at this ground that the Kiwis won the 1988 Great Britain Lions tour's sole test in New Zealand to qualify for the 1985–1988 Rugby League World Cup final.

Christchurch Stadium

Rugby League Park sustained significant damage during the February 2011 Christchurch earthquake and was closed until 24 March 2012.[3]

After the earthquake the stands had to be demolished. However Lancaster Park, the main sporting ground in Christchurch, was damaged beyond repair. As a temporary replacement for the city, Rugby League Park was upgraded to seat 18,000 by March 2012 with a possible expansion to 26,000 for major games. As a result, the Crusaders are based there indefinitely, and the stadium has also hosted All Blacks test matches and a Wellington Phoenix pre-season match in September 2012.[2][4][5] On 9 November 2013 it held a round 5 A-League match between Wellington Phoenix and Perth Glory in which the teams drew 1-1. On 14 May 2016, the ground played host to an NRL match between the Penrith Panthers and the New Zealand Warriors with the former being the home team.[6]

International rugby league matches

A list of rugby league test matches played at the Addington Showgrounds / Rugby League Park.[7]

Test# Date Result Attendance Notes
1 29 July 1950  New Zealand def.  Great Britain 16–10 10,000 1950 New Zealand vs Great Britain series
2 27 June 1953  New Zealand def.  Australia 25–5 5,509 1953 Trans-Tasman Test series
3 1 August 1964  New Zealand def.  France 18–8 4,935 1964 New Zealand vs France series
4 19 July 1970  Great Britain def.  New Zealand 23–9 8,600 1970 New Zealand vs Great Britain series
5 4 August 1974  Great Britain def.  New Zealand 17–8 6,316 1974 New Zealand vs Great Britain series
6 15 June 1975  New Zealand def.  France 27–0 2,500 1975 Rugby League World Cup
7 12 June 1977  Great Britain def.  New Zealand 30–12 7,000 1977 Rugby League World Cup
8 5 August 1979  Great Britain def.  New Zealand 22–7 8,500 1979 New Zealand vs Great Britain series
9 22 July 1984  New Zealand def.  Great Britain 28–12 9,824 1984 New Zealand vs Great Britain series
10 17 July 1988  New Zealand def.  Great Britain 12–10 8,525 1988 New Zealand vs Great Britain series
11 23 June 1991  New Zealand def.  France 32–10 2,000 1991 New Zealand vs France series
12 4 November 2017*  New Zealand vs.  Scotland 2017 Rugby League World Cup Group B
13 18 November 2017* Quarter-final 2 2017 Rugby League World Cup Quarter finals

References

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.