The following is a list of stadiums at which rugby union is played, ordered by seating capacity. Currently all stadiums with a capacity of 10,000 or more which are the regular home venue of a club or national team, or are the regular hosts of a major competition (such as an event in the World Rugby Sevens Series, its women's version, or the final of an annual national competition), are included. Stadiums for which the only rugby union use is hosting occasional matches or which have only hosted one-off rugby union tournaments are not included. Not all of these stadiums are primarily venues for rugby union, with some being primarily venues for another sport.
Stadium | Capacity (at time of closure) | City | Country | Home Team | Closed | Fate |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
The National Stadium | 53,000 | Cardiff | Wales | Wales national team | 1997 | Replaced by Millennium Stadium. The 1970 North Stand of National Stadium (Cardiff Arms Park) forms "Glanmor's Gap" in Millennium Stadium; the remainder was demolished. |
Lansdowne Road | 49,000 | Dublin | Ireland | Ireland national team | 2007 | Demolished and replaced on-site by Aviva Stadium. |
PETCO Park | 42,445 | San Diego | United States | USA Sevens | 2010 | Remains in use for its original purpose of baseball. |
Athletic Park | 39,000 | Wellington | New Zealand | Wellington Hurricanes, Wellington Rugby Football Union, some New Zealand national team matches | 1999 | Demolished. The replacement venue, Wellington Regional Stadium, is 5.9 km (~3.7 miles) away. |
Lancaster Park | 36,000 | Christchurch | New Zealand | Crusaders, Canterbury Rugby Football Union, some New Zealand national team matches | 2011 | Following major damage from the February 2011 Christchurch earthquake, one stand was demolished, and demolition of the rest of the ground will start in late 2017. [4] |
Carisbrook | 29,000 | Dunedin | New Zealand | Highlanders, Otago Rugby Football Union, some New Zealand national team matches | 2011 | Demolition began in early 2012. Parts of the stadium will be preserved or reused. |
Dignity Health Sports Park | 27,000 | Carson | United States | USA Sevens | 2007 | Remains in use for its original purpose of football (soccer). |
Cardiff City Stadium | 26,828 | Cardiff | Wales | Cardiff Blues | 2014 | Remains in use for its original purpose of football (soccer). |
Vicarage Road | 19,920 | Watford | England | Saracens | 2013 | Remains in use for its original purpose of football (soccer). |
Loftus Road | 18,500 | London | England | London Wasps | 2001 | Remains in use for its original purpose of football (soccer). |
Meadowbank Stadium | 16,500 | Edinburgh | Scotland | Edinburgh | 2006 | Remains in use for many other sports, including football (soccer) and American football. |
Racecourse Ground | 15,500 | Wrexham | Wales | Scarlets | 2009 | Remains in use for its original purpose of football (soccer), and has hosted rugby league since 2010. |
Stade Jean-Bouin | 12,000 | Paris | France | Stade Français | 2010 | Replaced on-site by a new stadium of the same name that opened in 2013. |
Edgeley Park | 10,900 | Stockport | England | Sale Sharks | 2012 | Remains in use for its original purpose of football (soccer). |
Firhill | 10,887 | Glasgow | Scotland | Glasgow Warriors | 2012 | Remains in use for its original purpose of football (soccer). |
This list includes stadiums that are either under construction or planned.
Stadium | Capacity (planned) | City | Country | Home Team/Event Hosting | Opening |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
DSC Multi-Purpose Stadium | 60,000 | Dubai | United Arab Emirates | TBA | |
Kai Tak Stadium | 50,000 | Hong Kong | Hong Kong | TBA | |
The 2007 Rugby World Cup was the sixth Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition organised by the International Rugby Board. Twenty nations competed for the Webb Ellis Cup in the tournament, which was hosted by France from 7 September to 20 October. France won the hosting rights in 2003, beating a bid from England. The competition consisted of 48 matches over 44 days; 42 matches were played in 10 cities throughout France, as well as four in Cardiff, Wales, and two in Edinburgh, Scotland.
Canberra Stadium is a facility primarily used for rugby league and rugby union games, located adjacent to the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra, the capital of Australia. It is the largest sports venue by capacity in Canberra.
The Stade de France is the national stadium of France, located just north of Paris in the commune of Saint-Denis. Its seating capacity of 80,698 makes it the largest stadium in France. The stadium is used by the French national football and rugby union teams for international competitions. It is the largest in Europe for track and field events, seating 78,338 in that configuration. During other events, the stadium's running track is mostly hidden under the football pitch.
The Parc des Princes is an all-seater football stadium in Paris, France. It is located in the south-west of the French capital, inside the 16th arrondissement, near the Stade Jean-Bouin and Stade Roland Garros.
The Millennium Stadium, known since 2016 as the Principality Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is the national stadium of Wales. Located in Cardiff, it is the home of the Wales national rugby union team and has also held Wales national football team games. Initially built to host the 1999 Rugby World Cup and replacing the National Stadium, it has gone on to host many other large-scale events, such as the Tsunami Relief Cardiff concert, the Super Special Stage of Wales Rally Great Britain, the Speedway Grand Prix of Great Britain and various concerts. It also hosted FA Cup, League Cup and Football League play-off finals while Wembley Stadium was being redeveloped between 2001 and 2006, as well as football matches during the 2012 Summer Olympics.
The Stade Vélodrome, known for sponsorship reasons as the Orange Vélodrome since June 2016, is a multi-purpose stadium in Marseille, France. It is home to the Olympique de Marseille football club of Ligue 1 since it opened in 1937, and has been a venue in the 1938 and 1998 FIFA World Cups; the 1960, 1984 and 2016 editions of the UEFA European Championship; and the 2007 and 2023 Rugby World Cup. It occasionally hosts RC Toulon rugby club of the Top 14. It is the largest club football ground in France, with a capacity of 67,394 spectators. The stadium is also used regularly by the France national rugby union team.
Eden Park is a sports venue in Auckland, New Zealand. It is located three kilometres southwest of the Auckland CBD, on the boundary between the suburbs of Mount Eden and Kingsland. The main stadium has a nominal capacity of 50,000, and is sometimes referred to as New Zealand's national stadium. The stadium is used primarily for rugby union in winter and cricket in summer, and has also hosted rugby league and association football matches, as well as concerts and cultural events. It is owned and operated by the Eden Park Trust Board, whose headquarters are located in the stadium.
Carisbrook was a major sporting venue in Dunedin, New Zealand. The city's main domestic and international rugby union venue, it was also used for other sports such as cricket, football, rugby league and motocross. In 1922, Carisbrook hosted the very first international football match between Australia and New Zealand. The hosts won 3-1.
The Newlands Stadium, referred to as DHL Newlands for sponsorship reasons, is located in Cape Town, South Africa. The stadium has a capacity of 51,900 people, but is not an all-seater venue.
The Stade de Gerland is a stadium in the city of Lyon, France, which serves as home to Top 14 rugby club Lyon OU. It has a seating capacity of 25,000.
Stade de Genève, also called Stade de la Praille, is a stadium in Lancy, Canton of Geneva. It has a capacity of 30,084.
Rotorua International Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium located on Devon Street West in the Westbrook suburb of Rotorua, New Zealand. It is currently used mostly for rugby union and rugby league matches, being one of three home stadiums for the Bay of Plenty Rugby Union.
EPRU Stadium, also known by its original name of Boet Erasmus Stadium, was a stadium in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. The letters "EPRU" in the name represent the Eastern Province Rugby Union, the stadium's historic primary tenants, whose team is now known as the Mighty Elephants. The original name Boet Erasmus Stadium was named after Boet Erasmus, a former mayor of Port Elizabeth. The stadium held a capacity of 33,852 people and served primarily as a venue for rugby union matches but also hosted a number of association football (soccer) fixtures.
Parramatta Stadium was a sports stadium in Parramatta, New South Wales, Australia, 24 km (15 mi) west of Sydney CBD. The stadium was the home ground of several western Sydney-based sports teams, at the time of closure the most notable were the Parramatta Eels of the National Rugby League and the Western Sydney Wanderers of the A-League.
Olympic Park Stadium was a multi-purpose outdoor stadium located on Olympic Boulevard in inner Melbourne, Australia. The stadium was built as an athletics training venue for the 1956 Olympics, a short distance from the Melbourne Cricket Ground, which served as the Olympic Stadium. Over the years it was the home of rugby league side, Melbourne Storm and the A-League team, Melbourne Victory; throughout its life the stadium played host to athletics. Olympic Park Stadium was located in Olympic Park, which is part of the Melbourne Sports and Entertainment Precinct.
The Stade Jean-Bouin is a multi-purpose stadium in the 16th arrondissement of Paris, France. The 19,904 capacity facility is located across the street from the much larger Parc des Princes, and is used mostly for rugby union, but is also used for American football and association football matches. It is the home stadium of Stade Français, Paris Musketeers and FC Versailles.
The Cape Town Stadium is an association football (soccer) and rugby union stadium in Cape Town, South Africa, that was built for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. During the planning stage, it was known as the Green Point Stadium, which was the name of the older stadium on an adjacent site, and this name was also used frequently during World Cup media coverage. It is the home ground of WP Rugby and the DHL Stormers, Premier Soccer League clubs Cape Town Spurs and Cape Town City. It has also hosted the South Africa Sevens rugby tournament since 2015 and hosted the Rugby 7s World Cup in 2022.
The Melbourne Rectangular Stadium, referred to as AAMI Park due to a sponsorship arrangement, is an outdoor sports stadium situated on the grounds of Edwin Flack Field within the Sports and Entertainment Precinct in the heart of the Melbourne central business district.
The Stade Pierre-Mauroy, also known as the Decathlon Arena – Stade Pierre-Mauroy for sponsorship reasons, is a multi-use retractable roof stadium in Villeneuve-d'Ascq, France, that opened in August 2012. It has a seating capacity of 50,186 and is the home stadium of Lille OSC. Initially named Grand Stade Lille Métropole, the stadium was renamed on 21 June 2013, just after the death of the former Mayor of Lille and former Prime Minister of France Pierre Mauroy (1928–2013).