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Eden Park, site of the 2011 Rugby World Cup final, is New Zealand's largest stadium. It
has a capacity of 50,000, which will be temporarily increased to 60,000 for the World Cup. It
was originally a swamp, surrounded by luxuriant kouka, or cabbage trees. Known as Cabbage
Tree Swamp, it dried out in summer but in winter became a lake.
In the late nineteenth century, the land was leased out by the Kingsland Cricket Club.
In 1911 the Auckland Cricket Association purchased the ground, now known as Eden Park, and the
following year the Auckland Rugby Union leased it in order to use it in the winter. The ground
was drained, a grandstand erected, and in 1914 the first rugby game was played there.
The first-ever rugby test match at Eden Park was held in 1921, when the All Blacks played
the Springboks. The excitement surrounding this event was enormous and it attracted a
crowd of over 30,000 people. Yet despite the huge home crowd the All Blacks lost to the
Springboks for the first time ever -- nine points to five.
Eden Park was also the venue for the 1950 Empire Games, now called the Commonwealth
Games. Yvette Williams, later to become an Olympic gold medallist, won gold in the long
jump and silver in the javelin in a games where New Zealand finished third on the medals
table.
In 1955, Eden Park was the site of one of New Zealand cricket's darkest days. In the
second innings of a test match against England, New Zealand scored a humiliating total of
only 26 runs. Four players were out for a duck, and the top scorer, opener Bert Sutcliffe,
was the only player to reach double figures with 11 runs. This total remains the lowest-ever
test innings total in the world.
However, a year later, New Zealand had its first-ever test cricket victory at Eden Park,
beating the West Indies by 190 runs in the final test of the series.
In 1981, Eden Park was the site of a bloody political conflict. During the final game
of the controversial Springbok Rugby Tour, the third and deciding test, thousand of protestors
and police clashed in running battles outside the ground. Police cars were overturned and
set on fire, and a number of police and protestors were hospitalised in the most violent clashes
of the tour.
Meanwhile a small plane, piloted by protestor Marx Jones, buzzed the park, while his fellow
passenger dropped flour bombs on the ground, one of which hit All Black Gary Knight. Despite
the protests outside and the flour bombs dropping amongst them, the players continued until
the final whistle, with an injury-time penalty kick from Alan Hewson giving the All Blacks
a series-winning 25-22 victory.
Though the 1981 test was one of the country's darkest moments, six years later, Eden Park
was the site of its proudest when New Zealand won the final of the inaugural Rugby World
Cup final -- its only World Cup win*.
The 1987 competition saw All Black stars such as Michael Jones and John Kirwan in stunning
form, and Grant Fox score 126 points -- a tournament record which still stands today.
New Zealand won the final against France 29-9, and when All Black captain David Kirk kissed
the Webb Ellis Trophy after the game, he channelled the joy of the nation.