Prince William has visited the Eden Park Stadium in Auckland, New Zealand to check out the development plans for the stadium which is set to host a series of games and the final of the Rugby World Cup 2011, including the opening game on the 9th September 2011 – the All Blacks V Tonga. By October 2010 work on the stadium will be complete and it will have a capacity of 60,000 for the tournament, the new south stand adding 22,000 seats.

The tournament will kick off at Eden Park, Auckland on 9th September 2011 and the final will be played at the same venue on 23rd October 2011. It is estimated that around 24,000 rugby fans from the UK and Ireland plan to travel to New Zealand to watch their teams play.

The first ticket and travel packages are expected to go on sale in the UK later this month through the Official Travel Agents Thomas Cook Sports, England Rugby Travel, and Gullivers Sports. This will be the longer lead time British Rugby fans have had to purchase their tickets before a Rugby World Cup tournament.