Rugby League Park
Marc L'estrange Stadium | |
 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 |
| Owner | Canterbury Rugby League |
| Capacity | 18,000 |
| Construction | |
| Expanded | 24 March 2012 |
| Architect | Populous |
| Tenants | |
| Canterbury Bulls, South Island, Crusaders [1] | |
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.[2]
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.[1][3][4] 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.[5] Another NRL game took place on 9 June, 2018 with the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles replacing Penrith as the home team against the Warriors.[6]
On 6 July 2018, the stadium was officially renamed to the Wyatt Crockett Stadium, becoming de-branded from AMI Stadium. This was to commemorate the Crusaders player Wyatt Crockett, reaching the milestone of playing 200 Super Rugby tier rugby Union matches.
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 Great Britain Lions tour |
| 11 | 23 June 1991 | New Zealand def. France 32–10 |
2,000 | 1991 New Zealand vs France series |
| 12 | 4 November 2017 | New Zealand def.  Scotland 74-6 |
12,130 | 2017 Rugby League World Cup Group B |
| 13 | 18 November 2017 |  Tonga def.  Lebanon 24-22 |
8,309 | 2017 Rugby League World Cup Quarter finals |
References
- ^ a b Gorman, Paul (8 September 2011). "League park Crusaders' new home". The Press. Archived from the original on 11 September 2012. Retrieved 6 November 2011.
{{cite news}}: Unknown parameter|dead-url=ignored (|url-status=suggested) (help) - ^ Kickoff delayed but winter codes expect to play Archived 24 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine The Star, 4 March 2011
- ^ New rugby stadium for Christchurch New Zealand Herald, 8 November 2011
- ^ Phoenix to play pre-season tournament in India stuff.co.nz, 7 August 2012
- ^ "NRL: Panthers v Warriors | Austadiums". www.austadiums.com. Retrieved 10 June 2018.
- ^ "NRL: Sea Eagles v Warriors | Austadiums". austadiums.com. Retrieved 10 June 2018.
- ^ Rugby League Park @ Rugby League Project
External links
- Christchurch Stadium med.govt.nz
- Rugby League Park rleague.com
- Rugby League Park rugbyleagueproject.org
- Rugby League Park wcities.com
- AMI Stadium