Westpac Stadium a sell out as first-time Super Rugby Champions set to be crowned
The two leading teams of the 2015 season are set to battle for the Super Rugby trophy at a sell-out Westpac Stadium in Wellington tomorrow night (Saturday 4th July).
Monday saw 26,000 tickets for the much anticipated clash between the Hurricanes and Highlanders selling in less than a minute.
To meet demand, Westpac Stadium has installed 1,700 temporary seats at the southern end and on the eastern wing of the venue, taking its capacity to over 36,000.
In a statement released on the club's website on Monday, Hurricanes Chief Executive James Te Puni explained “we understand a number of people who queued up locally on Monday missed out on tickets due to the huge interest generated online.
As a result, the Hurricanes joined with Ticketek to create a pop-up box office at Te Papa, where a remaining 2,000 tickets were made available.
Te Puni said seeing the tickets snapped up so quickly has added to the excitement of a home final, adding “this is going to be the biggest rugby occasion the Hurricanes, Westpac Stadium, Wellington City, and our fans have seen in the club's 20-year history.
"The whole region is experiencing the buzz of finals footy fever, culminating in the historic match this weekend as the two best performing teams in the competition and the fans come together at the home of the Hurricanes."
Tickets for the game have been scalped at online auction sites leading to anger among those who had been unsuccessful in obtaining tickets through conventional avenues.
Neither the Hurricanes nor Highlanders have previously won Super Rugby, with both also having previously lost finals to Crusaders.
The Hurricanes, who were only beaten twice throughout the regular season on their way to the NZ Conference title, earned the right to host the decider after winning their sold-out Semi-Final 29-9 against the Brumbies at Westpac Stadium last weekend.
The Highlanders will challenge them following a clinical 35-17 victory over the defending champion Waratahs in Sydney.
The final is the first all-New Zealand Super Rugby Final since the Crusaders prevailed over the Hurricanes 19-12 in 2006.
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