World Cup pre-game medleys an honour for Duff

Katea Duff. Photo / APN

The pianist daughter of Once Were Warriors author Alan Duff is to play at the opening of the Rugby World Cup.

Katea Duff, daughter of the award-winning writer, said playing for the crowds at Eden Park would be the highlight of her career.

"It's amazing - it's one of those opportunities I don't know how it fell into my lap, but it did."

Ms Duff will play a special transparent grand piano on a mezzanine floor beneath the corporate boxes at Eden Park before the game starts, and not just on opening night.

She'll perform a mixture of classical and modern music before all 11 games at the stadium. "But there'll be a few of the old favourites too, like Danny Boy."

The pianist said a chance meeting with the man who was about to hold auditions at a bar in Ponsonby while she was out with friends in March got her the gig.

"[He] asked, 'What do you do?' When I said I played the piano, he said he was auditioning pianists... and asked if I'd like to try out.

"He gave me his card, I went and auditioned and he said, 'The gig's yours'."

The 33-year-old has been playing the piano since age 5 and is an associate of the Trinity College of Music in London.

In June, her father declared bankruptcy from his home in France, ending a three-year wait by creditors owed $3.6 million.

Ms Duff said she had received an email from her father wishing her luck and regretting he could not be there.