Dunedin still holds test match magic

Nude touch rugby, the Feelers playing in the Octagon and bagpipes at the airport.

Test rugby is back in Dunedin.

The city may have one of the most dated international stadiums in the world, but it knows how to throw a rugby party.

While tourists could have leapfrogged down Colombo Street, Lambton Quay and Queen Street without knowing a test match was being staged in New Zealand's three main centres, there can be no mistaking the All Blacks are playing the Springboks in Dunedin tonight.

Unlike most retailers in those other cities, the small businesses on Dunedin's George Street have dressed up their shop windows and filled them with balloons, ribbons and posters.

Last night the city's main junction, the Octagon, was shut down so the Feelers could belt out tunes and the bars and restaurants were gearing up for a roaring trade.

Unlike its bigger cousins, Dunedin was not slow to sell its test tickets either. All 29,000 were snapped up weeks ago.

Among the extra culinary delights being trucked in for the event at Carisbrook are 1500 pies, 6000 hotdogs, 1500kg of chips and 26,000 cans of beer.

When the South Africans arrived at Dunedin's airport on Thursday afternoon (they delayed their arrival to avoid the southern weather), they were greeted by the sound of bagpipes from a local pipe band.

It is unlikely the Springboks' management will want players wandering too far from their central city hotel but, if they feel like killing some time, they could get some entertainment by watching the nude touch rugby match at the seaside near St Kilda beach.

This is the first test to be staged in Dunedin since the All Blacks met the Springboks in 2005, a match that proved highly entertaining with the All Blacks scrambling home thanks to a late try scored by hooker Keven Mealamu.

It also provided its share of fireworks, with flanker Jerry Collins involved in a fight that resulted in him being suspended for two weeks.

Tonight's match will mark a century of tests in Dunedin, the first match, between the All Blacks and an Anglo-Welsh team (comprising Welsh and English players because the Irish and Scottish were not interested), resulting in a 32-5 win to the home nation.

Twenty-five thousand fans watched that match, a figure bolstered by some gate-crashers who charged their way into the ground after using hammers and jemmy bars to smash a hole in a fence on Burns Street.

The Springboks have never won in Dunedin, failing in their previous seven matches at Carisbrook.

Cool weather and rain is forecast.

The reception from the All Blacks on the field is expected to be warmer.

All Blacks coach Graham Henry stated he expected his players to be disciplined in the line of fire, but will also not want his men taking a backward step.

It promises to be an entertaining evening.

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GO THE AB'S!!!   #3   05:26 pm Jan 28 2009

Shot dunedin... Play more tests in places that actually sell out!!! All Blacks by 10.. going to be a closey!!

Bring Back Jerry   #2   05:26 pm Jan 28 2009

Go the blacks. Otago need to show they can get crowds behind their LOCAL team before getting regular test matches. The crowds are too fickle...and I am FROM Dunnas!!! Bring back the crowds of the mid nineties!! THATS when Otago does well!

Oh yeah... go they blacks

Mike   #1   05:26 pm Jan 28 2009

Great to see Test Rugby going back to the people who really care about it. Good reward for all the hard work that has gone in to secure the new stadium and the future of rugby in Otago. Go black!

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