Rugby Culture

Rugby union is the sport this country measures itself by, and the ordinary version of it has little to do with the All Blacks. It is a club ground on the edge of a small town on a wet Saturday in June, a field with a rope around it, a clubroom, a sausage sizzle, and a few dozen people watching from cars with the wipers going. Above that sit the provincial competition and the Ranfurly Shield, a challenge trophy first played for in 1904 and defended only at home, then Super Rugby, and then the national teams. The Black Ferns have pulled women's rugby into the same conversation over the past decade.

What you actually see

• Club rugby - a winter Saturday at a local ground, free or a few dollars at the gate.
• The Ranfurly Shield - the provincial challenge trophy that only changes hands at the holder's ground.
• A test match day - a host city with the stadium full and the streets empty for eighty minutes.
• The haka before kickoff - performed by the national teams before internationals.

When to go

The season runs roughly February to October, with club rugby through the middle of the year and internationals concentrated in winter and early spring. Test tickets go on sale months ahead and sell out. Club fixtures need no planning at all: look up the local draw and turn up. Expect rain and cold at any winter ground.

Honest expectations

International tickets are expensive, sell out fast and push accommodation prices up in the host city for the whole weekend. Winter matches mean rain, wind and cold seats, and provincial grounds have little shelter. The rules are hard to follow without a primer, and a lopsided match is a long eighty minutes. Plenty of people here have no interest in rugby and say so.

Nearby

The main stadiums sit close to the centres of Auckland, Wellington and Dunedin, all walkable from town.