Rivals line up for battle of bridge

Auckland, little brother is watching you.

As the older and larger union, Auckland should have the advantage in tomorrow's NPC semifinal between Auckland and North Harbour, but there are plenty of supporters eager to see the Shore get one up on its big brother.

Sales have been steady - more than 14,000 tickets were sold by yesterday.

Although crowd numbers are largely weather dependent, the Auckland Rugby Union expects about 25,000 fans at Eden Park.

About 200 fans will be piling into buses bound for Eden Park at Pat's Garage at the Poenamo Hotel in Takapuna, lured by the prospect of a $5 ticket and a drink with the North Harbour team after the match.

Pat's Garage manager Katrina Low said there had been huge interest in the bus trip, and from what she'd heard around the bar people were excited about the match.

North Harbour Rugby CEO Noel Coom said he had received a lot of emails and messages from fans and hoped many would make their way across the bridge to the match.

"I'm sensing a real excitement about it. It's to do with the team, and the confidence people have in the team."

While crowd numbers might be down in other centres, the average crowd size at Eden Park had remained fairly consistent, although down slightly this year to 15,092.

The last Auckland v North Harbour semifinal was in 1999, where a crowd of 17,000 watched Auckland down Harbour 38-30.

Ex-All Black and Harbour old boy Ian Jones said he had many fond memories of Harbour v Auckland matches, and there was still plenty of passion for the game.

"Harbour had its own identity. People who live on the Shore are passionate about the Shore," he said.

People from both sides of the bridge often shared workplaces, and Jones said there would be plenty of good natured banter around the water cooler.

"There's a little bit of hype," said the Kingslander operations manager Darren Kearns. The pub, which backs on to Eden Park, was expecting a "big, big day" with queues from 4.30pm.

In the last few weeks interest had been building among patrons about the prospect of a home semifinal, said Mr Kearns.

Canterbury Rugby Union had sold 13,000 tickets to tonight's home semifinal against Otago at Jade Stadium and was expecting a crowd of 15,000, similar to their 2004 home semifinal.

The Auckland Rugby Union is offering free seats in the terraces for under-15s with an adult, to a maximum of four children per adult.

* Auckland v North Harbour, NPC semifinal

Eden Park, Auckland, 7.35pm tomorrow