Sports : More than 46,000 fans present as New Zealand beats Australia in Bledisloe Cup

More than 46,000 fans present as New Zealand beats Australia in Bledisloe Cup

A near-capacity 46,049 crowd was present at Eden Park as New Zealand defeated Australia 27-7 in game two of the Bledisloe Cup.

Covid-19 restrictions in Auckland, which re-entered lockdown in August following a small outbreak of coronavirus cases, were lifted at the start of the month to allow crowds to return to stadiums.

Eden Park was one of very few sports stadiums in the world the host a full crowd over the weekend.

Game one last Sunday featured 31,000 fans at Wellington’s Sky Stadium as Australia held New Zealand to a shock 16-16 draw.

New Zealand has been widely praised for its approach to handling the coronavirus and has reported fewer than 2,000 total cases and 25 deaths since the pandemic began.

Tries from Aaron Smith, Jordie Barrett, Ardie Savea and captain Sam Cane earned the All Blacks a comprehensive victory, though Australia showed flashes of its potential in the first half as Marika Koroibete crossed for the Wallabies’ only try of the match.

Games three and four of the Bledisloe Cup, a competition between only New Zealand and Australia, will take place in Sydney on October 31 and Melbourne on November 7.

The All Blacks have enjoyed considerably more success than their trans-Tasman rivals, having held the title since 2003.

Re: More than 46,000 fans present as New Zealand beats Australia in Bledisloe Cu

Days later:

New Zealand has recorded 25 new cases of coronavirus, the biggest daily toll the country has reported since the height of its initial outbreak in March and April.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/oct/21/new-zealand-records-25-covid-cases-amid-arrival-of-foreign-fishing-crews

Re: More than 46,000 fans present as New Zealand beats Australia in Bledisloe Cu

Are you insinuating that those cases were connected to the Bledisloe cup?

Two were local cases and the rest were discovered at the border, including 18 infections among Russian and Ukraine fishing crews who had arrived on a charter flight from Moscow days earlier.

The two new community cases reported on Wednesday were contacts of a ports worker whose case was reported on Sunday. It had been the first instance of community transmission in New Zealand since 25 September.

Re: More than 46,000 fans present as New Zealand beats Australia in Bledisloe Cu

I'm saying there are still cases there, so I don't know why they thought it was safe to have almost 50,000 fans in the audience at the game.

Re: More than 46,000 fans present as New Zealand beats Australia in Bledisloe Cu

All those cases are isolated and in quarantine, but I agree with you that you can't get blase about this virus. I hardly leave my house these days.

Re: More than 46,000 fans present as New Zealand beats Australia in Bledisloe Cu

Yes, they sound like they're letting their guard down. There could be cases they don't know about, since not every test is always accurate and they probably don't test everyone in the country every few days.
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