Rugby League Park

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.^[3]

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.^[2][4][5] 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.

International rugby league matches

A list of rugby league test matches played at the Addington Showgrounds / Rugby League Park.^[6]

Test#	Date	Result	Attendance
1	29 July 1950	New Zealand def.  Great Britain 16–10	10,000
2	27 June 1953	New Zealand def.  Australia 25–5	5,509
3	1 August 1964	New Zealand def.  France 18–8	4,935
4	19 July 1970	Great Britain def.  New Zealand 23–9	8,600
5	4 August 1974	Great Britain def.  New Zealand 17–8	6,316
6	15 June 1975	New Zealand def.  France 27–0	2,500
7	12 June 1977	Great Britain def.  New Zealand 30–12	7,000
8	5 August 1979	Great Britain def.  New Zealand 22–7	8,500
9	22 July 1984	New Zealand def.  Great Britain 28–12	9,824
10	17 July 1988	New Zealand def.  Great Britain 12–10	8,525
11	23 June 1991	New Zealand def.  France 32–10	2,000
12	4 November 2017*	New Zealand vs.  Scotland
13	18 November 2017*	{{}} vs. {{}}

*Played as part of the 2017 Rugby League World Cup.