Te Kaha was officially opened 13 years after the Lancaster Park earthquake destroyed it

April 24, 2026 – 6:30 pm

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Walking around Christchurch means seeing a city that has healed greatly since the devastating earthquake of February 22, 2011.

Scars remain in the form of empty lots where stores and offices once stood, and sometimes abandoned buildings. Christchurch’s famous cathedral remains fenced and supported by thick steel beams, awaiting restoration.

Fans arrive for the clash between the Crusaders and the New South Wales Waratahs in Christchurch on Friday night. Getty Images

But 15 years after a devastating 6.3 magnitude earthquake struck the region, Christchurch has been rebuilt and revitalized, and on Friday night, one of the final pieces of the puzzle fell into place.

The cathedral may still be closed, but a new home for one of Canterbury’s other faiths – Rugby – has opened for business just a few blocks away.

The $625 million Te Kaha Stadium, known as One New Zealand Stadium, hosted a launch event featuring the beloved Crusaders rugby team taking on the Waratahs. The stadium will host 10 teams in five matches in a revived Magic Round-style showcase for the 15-player Super Round.

Opening night, and the days leading up to it, proved surprisingly emotional for many Cantabrians, after a long wait for the city to return to a football stadium as its beating heart.

Crusaders captain Richie McCaw celebrates at Lancaster Park after beating the Waratahs in the 2005 Super Rugby final.Martin Hunter

In the weeks following the quake, the Crusaders’ old ground, Lancaster Park, was one of hundreds of badly damaged sites condemned and demolished.

The New Zealand champions have moved into a ‘temporary’ venue at modest Eddington Park, which was renovated in 100 days with used materials. But the Crusaders’ stay ended 13 years later, as the Reconstruction authorities worked steadily to rebuild Christchurch.

After three years of construction, the new stadium was finally completed.

“It feels like the puzzle has been completed,” Crusaders chief executive Colin Mansbridge said.

Damage caused by the 2011 Christchurch earthquake. Jason South

“There is work to be done on the cathedral, but this is the last major work. This is the work that people have stuck with the most, and it has really caught people emotionally. It’s obvious, isn’t it?”

After the fence fell on Thursday, a television crew interviewing people around the stadium discovered several bystanders suffocating on camera. One man wiped away tears.

Former All Blacks player Wyatt Crockett, who played 202 games for the Crusaders, can relate. The stadium is located across the road from the site of the former Canterbury Television Building, which collapsed during the earthquake, killing 115 people. Nearly two-thirds of the 185 lives lost in the tragedy. It is now a memorial park.

“Whenever these landmarks come up, it takes you back to 2011, when that happened, and what you went through in those moments, but also to those weeks and months after that, if your house was damaged or you were moved. People lost their lives. So it brings up some emotions,” Crockett said.

“It’s been a long time coming, and it took a long time to get here. But yeah, it takes you back.”

Located just minutes from the city centre, the stadium has a capacity of 25,000, or 30,000 if the open north side is filled with temporary seating. The venue was sold out for all three days of the Super Round.

Designed by former Wallaby Al Baxter, One NZ Stadium features a permanent translucent roof made of a material resembling hard plastic, allowing sunlight to penetrate the turf. They are supported by massive steel structures and designed to withstand any seismic activity.

“It’s a special stadium, and that’s what they did here,” Crockett said. “If you look back over the last three or four years, the city is gaining momentum and revitalizing. You talk to people who come to Christchurch and say: ‘It’s changed a lot. The city has changed a lot.’

Interior of One New Zealand Stadium.

“Funnily enough, the final piece of the puzzle is probably what Kantab is best known for: the home of their rugby team.”

In a press conference with World Rugby president Brett Robinson at a bustling live site in Christchurch, Super Rugby Pacific CEO Jack Misley said 14,000 visitors to Christchurch, including 4,000 from Australia, would visit Christchurch this weekend.

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However, the shadow of Moana Pasifika’s impending collapse loomed large, and Robinson was unflappable as he responded to criticism that World Rugby had not done enough to support the team and program in the Pacific region.

In one five-minute answer, the former Wallaby detailed the tens of millions of investments the World Rugby Union has made in the Pacific region for men and women across all formats.

“World Rugby does not fund professional teams in any part of the world… that is not our mission,” Robinson said.

Robinson dismissed concerns about Tonga and Samoa losing to rugby league, saying: “I have to say to my friend Mr Valandis [ARL Commission chairman Peter]And with all due respect to your game, we are the game of the Pacific.

As Robinson spoke, hundreds of people in nearby bars ignored the media crowd and prepared for opening night.

Mansbridge said it would be a great weekend in the city and at the new stadium.

“There’s real pride in that,” he said. “I think we deserve it. People have always been a little humble here but I’m starting to say no, this city, these people deserve it. It’s time to celebrate and have fun.”

Watch every Super Rugby Pacific match live and exclusively on Stan Sport.

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Ian Payten is a senior sports correspondent for The Sydney Morning Herald. Contact via X or email. From our partners

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