22 Oct 2011

Auckland ready for record fanzone crowds

1:41 pm on 22 October 2011

Rugby World Cup organisers say Sunday night's final could attract the biggest crowd yet to Auckland's fanzones.

An estimated 200,000 people swamped the inner city on the opening night on 9 October causing chaos on the waterfront.

Auckland Council chief executive Doug McKay expects more people to turn up for the final.

The combination of the All Blacks playing and a public holiday weekend could make for a record-breaking gathering.

Mr McKay says exact crowd numbers are difficult to predict, and organisers will open the Aotea Precinct as a fanzone if the waterfront is full.

"We're dealing with hypothetically the biggest situation that we were ever going to face around the games," Mr McKay said.

"We are in good shape. We've added fanzones as we have gone along in the last three or four weeks and we've put experience into understanding how those fanzones work."

The match between the All Blacks and France kicks off at 9pm on Sunday.