Beginning of the end: Crusaders final a ‘fitting’ match
Saturday, 21 June 2025
When 17,000 rugby fans pack out Apollo Projects Stadium for the season’s big dance, it might just be the last sell-out game of the venue’s lifetime.
With all the excitement surrounding Christchurch’s new stadium at Te Kaha, sometimes forgotten is the curtain coming slowly down on a sporting venue with history dating back more than 100 years.
The occasion between the Crusaders and Chiefs on Saturday will be the last Super Rugby Pacific final match played at the temporary venue, before the honour is handed to the One New Zealand Stadium after it opens in April next year.
The weekend’s “huge” showdown was a “wonderful way to acknowledge this milestone”, said Caroline Harvie-Teare, Venues Ōtautahi chief executive.
It was a full-circle moment for the team that fittingly opened the venue in 2012 — when the ground formerly known as Rugby League Park, which had hosted games since 1912, was transformed to accommodate major sporting events following the forced closure of Lancaster Park after the Canterbury earthquakes.
“It’s remarkable to reflect on what has been achieved. A venue stood up so rapidly in the wake of the earthquakes, intended to serve the city for just four years, has now been delivering outstanding events and unforgettable experiences for nearly 14,” Harvie-Teare said.
“What it’s meant to Ōtautahi Christchurch is immense and what it’s meant for the Crusaders is historic — seven championships won here, and now the chance for an eighth. Simply extraordinary.
“We as a city couldn’t ask for a more fitting way to end the last complete season.”
Extra kegs in the fridge
For the city’s sports bars, such as The Loft Bar in Cashel St, the weekend will be huge.
“We’ll be at absolute capacity. We’ve made sure we’ve got enough kegs in the fridge and enough staff on hand,” said co-owner Mason Lattimore, who has rostered on 21 staff for Saturday evening.
“There’s so much shit in the world, and when things like this come along, this is what life’s all about. You can already see the Chiefs fans out and about. It does such great things for the city.”
It won’t be just the cheering fans raising the roof at The Loft on Saturday. Lattimore said Chiefs’ fans are welcome to bring out their cowbells, which have been banned from the stadium.
“We’ve even got some of our own at the bar. New Zealand sport normally isn’t the most exciting environment, so it’s great to get that sort of atmosphere going.”
At Little Fiddle on The Terrace, owner Craig Ling said the extra trade started about Thursday, with a big Friday, to be followed by a flat-out Saturday, and finally fans expected in for Sunday lunch.
“It’s brought a lot more people into Christchurch and this what Christchurch needs — more of this,” Ling said.
“We’re expecting a huge night, we’ve got a lot of bookings and we’ll keep some tables free for walk-ins. With a big rugby night, we always get in extra kegs in and extra staff.”
But wait, the Super Rugby Pacific dates don’t add up?
While the new stadium is on track to open in April, the Super Rugby Pacific season usually kicks off in February.
Crusaders chief executive Colin Mansbridge said it was possible some games may take place at Apollo Projects Stadium in the early rounds next season, depending on the draw.
The official handover date for the new stadium is April 18. Mansbridge said they would be ready to transition to Te Kaha “as soon as it’s operational” and hope to play most home games at the new abode.
Super Rugby Pacific chiefs previously indicated they were open to the idea of tweaking the Crusaders’ draw to enable them to possibly have more away games or a bye in the early rounds to maximise the number of games they could potentially play at Te Kaha.
“That opening of the stadium is a new, exciting era for the Crusaders and, as a competition, we certainly want to set them up for success,” Super Rugby Pacific chief executive Jack Mesley told The Press in March.
The draw is generally released in August or September — then officials can confirm how many matches may need to be played at Apollo Projects Stadium next year.
What's still to come at Apollo Projects Stadium?
The stadium won’t immediately fall silent.
NPC matches are scheduled there this year, so it is not a permanent goodbye for now. But those provincial rugby matches will not draw the same full house as this weekend’s showdown.
Canterbury Rugby will play four NPC matches, plus any potential finals matches. However no All Blacks fixtures are scheduled there this year.
Harvie-Teare did not rule out there being any more major events, sporting or cultural, still to come and would announce any when in a position to do so, she said.
Uncertain future use
The stadium’s ultimate fate remains undecided.
Christchurch City Council staff expect to present a report on Apollo Projects Stadium’s future use to the council before the end of the year, though local representatives are advocating for community consultation.
“This is a strategic asset — we don’t want to see this facility going through the standard process of disposal for other surplus-to-requirements assets,” said Callum Ward, chairman of the Spreydon community board.
“From our board’s point of view, we are acutely aware of the impacts of intensification and the resulting pressure on public green space and other community facilities. This could be a great opportunity for the council to address this need,” he said.
“We understand it may no longer make economic or financial sense for it to continue as it is currently being run, but this is a decision-making journey the community needs to be involved in.”
Spreydon councillor Melanie Coker echoed those sentiments and said the community should be asked about the future use of the land.
Venues Ōtautahi said it will work with its key stakeholders to organise a fitting farewell event to the old stadium next year.
A remarkable legacy
The stadium’s legacy extends far beyond rugby.
It has hosted major international concerts including the Foo Fighters, Elton John, and Bruce Springsteen, sporting spectacles including All Blacks and Black Ferns tests, NRL matches, Kiwis and Kiwi Ferns, international football matches and the unifying You Are Us Aroha Nui fundraising concert following the 2019 Christchurch mosque attacks.
Prior to being built in under 100 days into a stadium, the ground had a strong rugby league history.
Mansbridge said in an online comment that the stadium was “a wee beauty and I will be sad that there won't be another final played there”.
Harvie-Teare said despite its constraints, the stadium had earned its place in New Zealand sporting history.
“While its role as our city’s stadium will come to a close in the not too distant future, we will remember it for at a time of profound grief and sadness for what our city had lost, giving us a place to come together as a community to experience the greatest of sporting moments,” she said.
Read more:
‘Bury a cowbell in my head’: Crusaders boss threatened after bell ban for final
James O'Connor confirms first Super Rugby final will be his last Crusaders game
– Additional reporting from Tony Smith and Liz McDonald