The Historic Eden Park Trivia Quiz

Answer: Auckland

Auckland's Eden Park had the ability to host such a variety of sports due to the cricket field being a temporary fixture. Whenever a particular sport required the use of the stadium the cricket pitch was either installed or was removed and taken into storage. Removable pitches are a feature of many modern sports stadiums, the Millennium Stadium in the Welsh capital of Cardiff being a good example.

In addition to rugby union, Eden Park occasionally hosted rugby league matches and in the 1980s one of the most important matches in the league code was played at the venue.

Answer: Commonwealth Games

The 1950 competition in Auckland was the last to be called the British Empire Games. A number of name changes, each progressively less imperialist, were made over the subsequent decades until the powers that be settled upon the Commonwealth Games.

Eden Park was the main stadium for the 1950 British Empire Games and the majority of the athletics events, including the revered 100m sprint, would have been contested there.

Answer: Blues

The Blues were originally called the Auckland Blues but the name change reflected the fact that the team represented areas other than Auckland. The inaugural season of the Super Rugby competition took place in 1996 and was commonly referred to as the Super 12. The Blues, who at that time represented Auckland, Counties Manukau and Thames Valley, emerged as champions that year and successfully defended their title the following season.

In addition to making use of Eden Park, the Blues played some home fixtures at North Harbour Stadium in Albany and Okara Park in Whangarei.

Answer: Rugby Union

Rugby union's Air New Zealand Cup was first contested in 2006 and the inaugural winners were Waikato. Waikato beat Wellington in the 2006 final and this would prove to be the first of four successive losses for Wellington at that stage in the competition.

The 2007 Air New Zealand Cup was played at Eden Park and was won by the home team, Auckland. In 2010 the name of the competition was changed from the Air New Zealand Cup to the ITM Cup.

Answer: Yes

Eden Park had the honour of hosting the final of the inaugural Rugby World Cup tournament in 1987. What made the event all the more special was the presence of New Zealand in the final! New Zealand, with the added advantage of home support, beat opponents France by twenty points (29-9). The man who had the privilege of refereeing this match was the late Kerry Fitzgerald of Australia.

Answer: Australia

In a rather peculiar tournament which spanned three years, the Australia Kangaroos emerged victorious after beating the New Zealand Kiwis by a comfortable margin (25-12). This tournament also saw Papua New Guinea participate for the very first time and even though they didn't reach the final, the country was represented at the big match in the form of referee Graham Ainui.

Answer: Haka Bowl

The Haka Bowl was due to be contested on the 27th December but for financial reasons the idea was abandoned. If the game went ahead, Eden Park would have joined the then very small list of stadiums outside of the USA that have held a college bowl game.

The Bacardi Bowl is an example of a college bowl game played outside of the States. The Bacardi Bowl, held in Havana, Cuba, materialised seven times in the period 1907-1946.

Answer: No

The Auckland 'Aces' were a domestic cricket team that played One Day cricket and Twenty20. The 'Aces' did not participate in Tests as this version of cricket is only played on the national level. Test Cricket is played over five days and there is no absolute maximum number of overs that can be bowled. On the other hand, One Day matches and Twenty20 are restricted to a certain number of overs per innings, fifty and twenty overs respectively. Depending on weather conditions and the light levels, these standard numbers can be altered and the scores adjusted according to the Duckworth-Lewis method.

During the period of Eden Park renovation, the Auckland 'Aces' played their home matches at Colin Maiden Park.

Answer: 1992

During the 1992 Cricket World Cup, four matches were played at Eden Park but the stadium wasn't chosen as the venue for the final on this occasion, that honour went to Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) in Yarra Park. Australia and New Zealand were also jointly granted the right to host the 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup.

Answer: Stadium New Zealand

The replacement of Eden Park with Stadium New Zealand was surrounded by political controversy. After concerns voiced from various councils and local bodies, the idea of a new development in the form of Stadium New Zealand was scrapped and instead a decision was made to upgrade Eden Park.

The redeveloped Eden Park went on to be the venue for the final of the 2011 Rugby World Cup, the second time the stadium had hosted the final of the competition.