Te Kaha hailed as 'our national stadium' with Crusaders set to kickstart Super Round on Anzac weekend 2026
Monday, 11 August 2025
ANALYSIS: Remember the old Kevin Coster Field of Dreams line? “if you build it, they will come”.
Well, the Christchurch City Council has built the $683 million One New Zealand Te Kaha Stadium, and Super Rugby Pacific is coming with an Anzac weekend Super Round in 2026.
But will the rugby punters come in sufficient droves to ensure the Anzac Day footy festival isn’t an opening year one-off?
Crusaders chief executive Colin Mansbridge is already cheekily calling Te Kaha the “national stadium’’.
“Obviously, if you come from Auckland, and have had to put up with a stadium up there for a while, you’d be be pretty keen to come down here to a decent national stadium, I’d have thought.”
Mayor Phil Mauger is also spruiking the roofed arena as “the envy of the nation” and Christchurch “the sporting and events capital”.
The Super Round advent was officially announced at Te Kaha on Monday amid a welter of words from hyped-up alickadoos in hard hats.
But the star attraction was the amphitheatre itself.
The venue Mauger says Christchurch has waited almost a decade for has the feel of an European football stadium and is set to rival Brisbane’s Suncorp Stadium as the most atmospheric in the southern hemisphere.
The rectangular ground, with its stands close to the pitch, will provide a far superior viewing experience than the old Lancaster Park or the Crusaders’ current home, Apollo Projects Stadium in Addington.
Nearby bars, restaurants and the Christchurch tram will only be a Will Jordan line kick away, adding to the ambience.
Super Round will be the first major sporting event held at Te Kaha.
Five Super Rugby games will be staged from April 24 to 26, with the Crusaders kicking off with a Friday night opening match.
The full draw will be out in a week or two, but the Crusaders’ All Blacks halfback Noah Hotham would love to play “the Chiefs or the Blues, or even a southern derby’’ with the Highlanders.
The only confirmed fixtures in Monday’s release were two on Anzac Saturday when the Hurricanes play the Brumbies for the Captain Shout Cup, and the Blues tackle the Reds, with the players competing for the Sellars Dixon Medal.
Organisers hope fans from all around the South Pacific will flock to Christchurch, even Chiefs supporters.
Mansbridge - who banned Chiefs fanatics from bringing cowbells to this year’s Super Rugby final in Christchurch - quipped that Te Kaha would have “special monitors [that] as soon as come through the gate they give you an electric shock if you try and bring a cowbell in”.
Te Kaha’s allure is a major reason why Super Rugby Pacific is bringing back the Super Round next year after a season’s hiatus.
Super Rugby Pacific (SRP) chief executive Jack Mesley termed it “a great confluence of opportunity”.
“We wanted to bring back Super Round, the stadium was opening, we’ve got a long weekend, we can bring all our Anzac Day fixtures together. It just felt like it was made to happen.”
Super Rounds were held in Melbourne from 2022 to 2024, but, although Mesley said they draw plenty of visitors, including many from New Zealand, they were not strongly supported by Melburnians where the Rebels did not have the same support as the Crusaders.
The weekend series was shelved this year after tepid interest from Australian state governments.
But reviving the concept - swiped from the NRL’s successful Magic Round - in New Zealand, where rugby support is stronger, seems a savvier gamble.
Mesley felt Christchurch with its proud rugby history was the perfect first-up fit with the Crusaders as current champions. “We think a world-class team deserves a world-class stadium, and this is certainly a world-class stadium.”
The Super Round is a one-year licence at this stage, but SRP would like to have discussions about future years in Christchurch.
Attendance will be critical, but Mesley said it would not be the only critical factor in securing more Super Rounds. “We want to see this place full, we all do, but there are multiple factors involved in the success, not just filling this stadium. We want people to travel and visit and spend in the region.”
So how will it work?
Super Rugby has 11 teams with a bye each week. The team that has drawn the short straw for Super Round is yet to be confirmed.
Teams allocated a home game will be compensated for bringing the fixture to Christchurch. “All boats rise in this tide,’’ Mansbridge said.
The Super Round capacity will be 25,000. The open, northern end where extra seating can be installed will be a “Field Club’’, Mansbridge said, ”that can take some people - not 5000 - and have a hospitality type feel“.
Five games in one weekend in a new stadium with freshly-laid turf will test the surface, but Mesley is confident there will be no issues with the pitch cutting up because the stadium roof means there will be no rain threat.
While the Super Round is a gift for rugby fans, there is no such thing as a free lunch.
The city has had to grease SRP’s palm, but ChristchurchNZ declined to say how much it had paid when asked by The Press.
Mauger said the city was keen to draw more events and admitted “we will probably still have to give some financial incentive”.
“But because [Te Kaha’s] going to be so good, they will be queuing up at the door to get in.”
The Crusaders have struggled to get regular capacity crowds at 17,000-seat Apollo Projects Stadium in recent years, but Mansbridge is confident of strong support for the whole Super Round weekend.
He said it was “an unique opportunity’’ to experience “a multi-use arena. People are going to want to come and have a look and see how this place is looking for concerts, footy and other events.
“They are going to be desperate to get in here. You are going to want to tell your kids you came to the opening of the stadium.
Mauger said Christchurch’s “fans are passionate and we are a city that knows how to deliver.
“See you there. Don’t be late.”