7 Aug 2011

Fans complain of rugby delays

10:34 am on 7 August 2011

Some rugby fans complain of long delays before and after the All Blacks Test in Auckland on Saturday.

But transport officials are happy and say they are ready for the Rugby World Cup.

Special crowd control and transport plans developed for the tournament were tested on the biggest rugby crowd at Eden Park for 55 years.

Some of the 52,000 fans told Radio New Zealand there were long queues and bottlenecks getting into the stadium.

Afterwards, some complained of waiting up to an hour for a train back to the city.

However, Auckland Transport says the 16,500 people who used special train services were moved by the target time of 70 minutes after the final whistle.

But it acknowledges some people had waits getting to the game when buses filled up on the northern busway.

Police say it was a typical Saturday night for them. Only two arrests were made at the stadium.

Superintendent Grant O'Fee says the night went off well, the mood of the crowd was good and there were no big blockages as people moved in and out of the stadium.

In the rugby: New Zealand beat Australia 30-14. The half-time score was 17-0.