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Affectionately dubbed the ‘Cake Tin’ by the locals, Westpac Stadium in New Zealand’s capital Wellington recently underwent a major surface upgrade for the first time since its opening in 2000. HG Sports Turf’s Erik Kinlon looks back at the project and some of its unique challenges.
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estpac Stadium, or Wellington Regional Stadium, is a major sporting venue in Wellington, New Zealand which was officially opened in early 2000. Residing one kilometre north of the Wellington CBD on reclaimed railway land, it was constructed to replace Athletic Park, the city’s long-standing rugby union venue. Athletic Park held a unique place in the New Zealand sporting landscape. In addition to boasting one of the steepest grandstands in the country (the famed Millard Stand), it was the ground’s exposure to the elements which gave it folklore status. Wellington is renowned for its gale force winds and it was something of a rite of passage to attend a rugby game atop of the Millard in the middle of winter with an Antarctica-fuelled southerly blowing in off nearby Cook Strait. Athletic Park was the site of one of the All Blacks’ most improbable Test wins over a touring France side in 1961. With winds gusting up to 140kph during the match, All Black ‘super boot’ Don Clarke managed to nail a sideline conversion to win the match 5-3. What made his conversion famous was that he effectively kicked the ball along what is now the 22m line and watched the wind swing it 90 degrees and through the uprights! Despite such memorable moments, over the years Athletic Park gradually became more and more run down and was no longer considered
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adequate to cater for international events due to its age and location. A new stadium was also needed to provide a larger-capacity venue for One Day International cricket matches, due to the city’s Basin Reserve ground losing such matches to larger stadia in other parts of the country. Now in existence for 16 years, the 34,000 capacity Westpac Stadium has become one of New Zealand’s premier multi-purpose venues. It is the home of the Wellington Lions Mitre 10 Cup rugby team as well as the aptly named Hurricanes Super Rugby team. The stadium also hosts the Wellington Sevens, one of the legs in the annual HSBC Rugby Sevens World Series, and regularly hosts All Blacks rugby matches. It is also home ground for A-League soccer team Wellington Phoenix FC, with the home fans dubbing the ground ‘The Ring of Fire’. During the summer the stadium also hosts international and occasionally domestic limited overs cricket. The stadium has also been used for rugby league matches, including national team fixtures and New Zealand Warriors away fixtures. In recent years, Melbourne-based AFL club St. Kilda played three ‘home’ games at the stadium against Sydney, Brisbane and Carlton as part of the Anzac Day round. Most recently it hosted matches during the 2011 Rugby World Cup and 2015 Cricket World Cup.