And now the weather... great for big day, patchy afterwards

Photo / Doug Sherring

The rain should hold off for most of this weekend's Rugby World Cup matches - until Sunday.

Weather Watch chief analyst Philip Duncan said tomorrow and Saturday should be fine and warm for most of the country.

"It's actually looking quite good, particularly for the North Island. Everywhere, except Wellington, should be really warm with some areas even reaching the early twenties," Mr Duncan said.

A large low that is moving slowly over the Tasman Sea would arrive over New Zealand on Sunday - meaning the weather would deteriorate.

MetService forecaster Janet Syme said a rain trough would move across the country on Sunday afternoon, just in time for the Ireland v USA match in New Plymouth.

But Mr Duncan said the showers would be patchy, with periods of dry spells. "So hopefully with any luck you'll get a dry patch over those cities [hosting Sunday's three matches] during the game time."

THE OUTLOOK

Tomorrow

Auckland NZ v Tonga. Fine with light winds, temperatures of 14C.

Saturday

Invercargill Scotland v Romania. Cloudy, about 13C.

Rotorua Fiji v Namibia. Mostly fine, breezes, about 15C.

North Shore France v Japan. Cloud, breezes, about 12C.

Dunedin Argentina v England. Lots of cloud, about 9C.

Sunday

New Plymouth Ireland v US. Rain, about 10C.

Wellington South Africa v Wales. Rain and wind, 11C.

North Harbour Australia v Italy. Showers, max 18C.