Rugby: Manawatu confident of big crowd at Highlanders match

The Highlanders play the Bulls at their 'home away from home' in Palmerston North on Saturday. Photo / Getty Images

The Manawatu Rugby Union (MRU) is confident rather than optimistic of getting a minimum 10,000 crowd to the "home away from home" Super 14 match between the Highlanders and the Bulls at Palmerston North on Saturday evening.

Late yesterday, just under 3000 tickets, priced at $20 for adults and $10 for children, had been sold for the match at Arena Manawatu.

But MRU commercial affairs manager Gregg Todd said today he was expecting a big rush in the last couple of days before the match, " as per normal with rugby fans".

With a lot of promotional activities going on this week, Todd said there was a buzz in the city.

The Highlanders will hold training sessions and visit schools to try help promote Saturday's game.

The Highlanders' round seven game in Palmerston North will be the first time in Super rugby's 14-year history that a team have played a home game outside their region.

The Highlanders contain two Manawatu players - Hayden Triggs and Johnny Leota - plus a number of Hawke's Bay draftees.

The region has been snubbed by "their" team, the Hurricanes, who last played a Super 14 match at Palmerston North in the 2007 season.

With Palmerston North also to host two 2011 World Cup matches, the union had the lofty ambition off bringing an All Blacks test to the city and Saturday's match "is just us putting another tick in our rugby cv", Todd said.

"As a province we hosted the first ever game of professional rugby in 1996 - the Hurricanes versus the Blues - we had the British and Irish Lions here, Hurricanes games and now the first home away from home Super game.

"We could go to the NZRU and say we can do this - now we want an All Black test."

- NZPA