Eden Park's useless seats

About 100 seats in the $256 million Eden Park upgrade are useless because part of the field is blocked from view. Photo / Getty Images

About 100 seats in the $256 million Eden Park upgrade are useless because almost all of one try line and a good chunk of the field are blocked from view.

But the seats - in the southwestern section of the new South Stand - may still be sold for Rugby World Cup games, although fans will be warned the views are obstructed.

The Eden Park Trust, which owns Eden Park, is defending the stadium's design, saying developers were looking to the future.

Views from the seats are blocked by the adjacent West Stand.

Eden Park Trust chairman John Waller said yesterday he knew of the issue, and assured fans that no one would have an impeded view.

But a Rugby NZ 2011 spokesman later said the seats could still be sold. A decision on whether the tickets would be made available would not be made until next year.

It is not yet known if the tickets would be discounted but anyone buying them would be told of sight restrictions.

The seats are in the Cup's category C price range - tickets range in price from $225 for the opening All Blacks-Tonga match up to $1124 for the final.

If they had been in use for the 1987 World Cup final between the All Blacks and France, spectators in them would have missed the two All Black tries in the northwestern corner - scored by captain David Kirk and wing John Kirwan - that sealed New Zealand's first and only Cup win.

Mr Waller said the stadium had been designed with the possibility that the West Stand might be demolished, although there were no plans for that to happen.

"If you go right up on the edge of the South Stand, at the west end you can't see a bit of one corner of the paddock," he said. "We've known ... that's why they're not included in seat counts for Rugby World Cup.

"It's just trying to future-proof the stadium ... at some time Eden Park may wish to develop the West Stand and when that comes down, you'll get a good sight line all the way around. It's just a little area ... it's a very, very small number of seats.

"We've known about it for a long time. It's just one of those things. We're trying to think about the future, as opposed to just now.

"When you're doing any redevelopment you want to make sure you don't preclude other options for the future."

Mr Waller assured fans that only one area of the park had the problem.

"Will people be buying Category C seats that do not have a full view? The answer to that is no. If Rugby New Zealand wants to sell them but disclose that to the people that are buying them, then that's fair enough."

Rugby NZ 2011 spokesman Shane Harmon said it was usual for any venue to have some restricted view seats, and this was always factored into event planning.

But Wellington's waterfront "Cake Tin" stadium has no seats with obstructed views.