JUST a few kilometres from where Tate McDermott’s Queensland Reds will play tonight in Christchurch are the old gates to a famous rugby stadium that no longer exists.
The gates of Lancaster Park, Jade Stadium or whatever you once called it are all that remain as a skeleton of the 2011 Rugby World Cup that never came to Christchurch.
It is now an open-field park for community sport.
Reminders of the earthquake that claimed more than 180 lives in early 2011 are still here for those with a history with this New Zealand city.
Whether it is a city centre that is strangely devoid of towering skyscrapers or the intimate stone-by-stone rebuild of the iconic Christ Church Cathedral, you see it.
The Hadlee Stand and the rest of Jade Stadium was bulldozed long ago.
I still remember a sombre visit to the venue in 2011 after Christchurch’s seven World Cup games had to be reallocated to other parts of NZ.
“She’s knackered alright,” was how All Blacks great Fergie McCormick so aptly described the scene when we peered at the cracks at the base of vast, empty stands.
Even the field was buckled after nature’s grenade had gone off underneath.
Humour had to be a companion in those days because thousands of aftershocks rocked the city as well. An inner city strip club survived, where beautiful old buildings collapsed on the same block, because it had more poles inside to keep it up.
One of the uplifting images of 2011’s recovery effort was then-Crusaders No.8 Kieran Read manning a wheelbarrow and shovelling earth turned to mush in liquefaction. Former All Blacks skipper Reuben Thorne took in friends who lost their home and ferried drinking water.
Former Reds players were part of the “Mud Army” cleaning up after the 2011 Queensland floods.
People from Canterbury are a hardy upbeat breed in adversity. Queenslanders are no less resilient, having been defined by devastating floods over the past 15 years.
When the Reds toppled the Crusaders in the 2011 Super Rugby final, no one should forget that the Reds ran out from temporary dressing rooms because the venue had been under floodwaters.
The respect and history between the two provinces, in rugby terms, goes back more than a century. Both have gatecrashed each other’s parties at various times.
Generations of Wallabies and Queensland players will rejoice that a new 30,000-seat stadium will be opened across town in Christchurch next year with a roof to keep out the elements.
There’ll be no roof tonight at Apollo Projects Stadium, the low-rise 18,000-seat suburban home for the Crusaders since the earthquake.
The Reds have come to Christchurch for tonight’s qualifying final with a confidence born of results and adaptability over two seasons under Les Kiss and his coaching team.
Wins have been wrestled in the rain. Wins have come from backing 60m counter-attacks. Wins have been built on clinical rolling mauls off 5m lineouts, one of the best in Super Rugby Pacific.
Wins have been earned with heroic defence to keep the tryline intact through 15 phases of opposition pressure at times.
Wins have been built because the firepower is there to apply pressure on the scoreboard. In all, 63 tries have been scored in 2025.
Wins have been earned in the final minutes of games. Even in games that have slipped away, the fight has gone to the 80th minute.
Wins over Kiwi teams? The Reds have five in 2024 and 2025, at home and away. Winning in Christchurch last year dissolved a 25-year hoodoo.
Above all it has been a team effort with a varied roll call when Player of the Match gongs have been handed out. A big performance could come from multiple players standing tall tonight. It will take nothing less.
