Earthquake Match, 2010
The feature photo at the bottom of our Memorial print holds special significance for the Christchurch public. The provincial match between Canterbury and Wellington was the first to be played after the initial earthquake on September 4th. It was 3 weeks later and in recognition of the hardships in the city the CRFU announced free entry for the match. A great crowd took advantage of this special ‘earthquake match’. For the record Canterbury won the match 37 – 30. A few weeks later they returned to win the ITM Cup by beating Waikato in the final. This beautiful fisheye picture was taken by former Star photographer John McCombe – it shows the full dimensions of the ground from the new Deans Stand, and the significant crowd of 30,500. Only 4 months later the ground was irreparably damaged.