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Counties Manukau fans are buzzing at the return of provincial rugby to their traditional home ground at Pukekohe, union chief executive Nick Sheppard said yesterday.
The Steelers will play their three daytime home matches - against Auckland, Hawkes Bay and Manawatu - in this year's Air New Zealand Cup at Growers Stadium.
Provincial rugby will also resume in Nelson, with Tasman staging their two daytime home games - against Taranaki and Otago - at Trafalgar Park.
Growers Stadium and Trafalgar Park, which have needed upgrading to meet Air NZ Cup criteria, were not used in the competition's first two years.
Instead, Counties Manukau played all their home fixtures north of the border at Auckland's Mt Smart Stadium, while Tasman have used Lansdowne Park, in Blenheim.
Mt Smart Stadium and Lansdowne Park will continue to host the unions' night matches, because of lack of adequate lighting at Pukekohe and Nelson.
Sheppard, who leaves Counties Manukau at the end of the month to be the New Zealand Rugby Union's provincial union project manager, said having top provincial fixtures back at Pukekohe was "fantastic".
The goal would be to play all home matches there next season, and Counties Manukau were going through the resource consent process to make that happen.
In Nelson, Tasman chief executive Peter Barr said locals were looking forward to having Air NZ Cup matches there. Trafalgar Park's upgrade had included a new stand and proper floodlighting was on the cards as part of Nelson City Council's proposed bid to host World Cup matches.
- NZPA
