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 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 national team | 2007 | Demolished and replaced on-site by Aviva Stadium. |
PETCO Park | 42,445 | San Diego | ![]() | USA Sevens | 2010 | Remains in use for its original purpose of baseball. |
Athletic Park | 39,000 | Wellington | ![]() | 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 | ![]() | 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 was mostly completed by September 2019. [3] |
Carisbrook | 29,000 | Dunedin | ![]() | 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 | ![]() | USA Sevens | 2007 | Remains in use for its original purpose of football (soccer). |
Cardiff City Stadium | 26,828 | Cardiff | ![]() | Cardiff Blues | 2014 | Remains in use for its original purpose of football (soccer). |
Vicarage Road | 19,920 | Watford | ![]() | Saracens | 2013 | Remains in use for its original purpose of football (soccer). |
Loftus Road | 18,500 | London | ![]() | London Wasps | 2001 | Remains in use for its original purpose of football (soccer). |
Meadowbank Stadium | 16,500 | Edinburgh | ![]() | Edinburgh | 2006 | Remains in use for many other sports, including football (soccer) and American football. |
Racecourse Ground | 15,500 | Wrexham | ![]() | 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 | ![]() | Stade Français | 2010 | Replaced on-site by a new stadium of the same name that opened in 2013. |
Edgeley Park | 10,900 | Stockport | ![]() | Sale Sharks | 2012 | Remains in use for its original purpose of football (soccer). |
Firhill | 10,887 | Glasgow | ![]() | 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 | ![]() | TBA | |
Kai Tak Stadium | 50,000 | 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, commercially known as GIO Stadium Canberra, 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.
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 athletics events, seating 77,083 in that configuration. During other events, the stadium's running track is mostly hidden under the grandstands.
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 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, and football at the 2024 Summer Olympics. It occasionally hosts RC Toulon rugby club of the Top 14. It is the second largest stadium in France, behind Stade de France in Saint-Denis (Paris), with a capacity of 67,394 spectators. The stadium is also used regularly by the France national rugby union team.
The France national rugby union team represents the French Rugby Federation in men's international rugby union matches. Colloquially known as Le XV de France, the team traditionally wears blue shirts with a Gallic rooster embroidered on the chest, white shorts and red socks in reference to the French national flag. Les Bleus mostly play home matches at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis, near Paris. They compete in the annual Six Nations Championship along with England, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales. France have won the tournament on 26 occasions, winning the Grand Slam 10 times.
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.
The Stade de la Beaujoire – Louis Fonteneau, mostly known as Stade de la Beaujoire, is a stadium in Nantes, France. It is the home of French football club FC Nantes, known as the canaries.
The Newlands Stadium 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 Yves-du-Manoir is a rugby, track, and association football stadium in Colombes, near Paris, France.
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.
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. It had 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.
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 Stade Ernest-Wallon is a multi-purpose stadium located in the Sept Deniers district of Toulouse, in southwestern France. Described as a "temple to the oval ball", it is the home ground for the rugby union club Stade Toulousain and the rugby league club Toulouse Olympique.
The Cape Town Stadium is an association football (soccer) and rugby union stadium in Cape Town, South Africa, that was built as part of the country's hosting of the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
Apia Park is a multi-function sports complex located in Apia, the capital of Samoa. Primarily used for rugby union events, Apia Park is the home stadium of the Samoa national rugby union team, Manu Samoa. It is also a venue for association football. Manuma Samoa use the venue for rugby union matches.
The 2017–18 European Rugby Champions Cup was the fourth European Rugby Champions Cup championship, the annual rugby union club competition for teams from the top six nations in European rugby and was the twenty-third season of pan-European professional club rugby competition.