Piri Weepu had no thoughts on the matter. Pictures / Dean Purcell
Piri Weepu had no thoughts on the matter. Pictures / Dean Purcell
KEY POINTS:
A group of All Blacks arrived home yesterday seeming a little bemused - and not in total agreement - over the Eden Park/waterfront stadium debate.
The dozen or so travel-weary players touched down at Auckland Airport after their successful tour of the UK and France to a waitingmedia scrum and autograph hunters.
Despite the intense local debate surrounding the recent decision to upgrade Eden Park instead of building a waterfront stadium, former All Black captain Reuben Thorne, halfback Piri Weepu and hooker Andrew Hore all seemed nonplussed by the controversy.
Cantabrian Thorne laughed when asked where his preferred choice of stadium would be.
"I don't want to go into that, but it would have been great to see a world-class stadium built on the waterfront," he said.
"But obviously there are other considerations as well so you've got to think of all of those."
Hore, the Hurricanes hooker who was sin-binned in the test against Wales on Sunday, said he felt there were alternative options to both Eden Park and the waterfront.
"I haven't had too much time to think about it really but the Cake Tin [Westpac Stadium in Wellington] or Yarrow Stadium in Taranaki would do me at the moment," he said.
Halfback Piri Weepu, who hails from the Wainuiomata electorate of the pro-waterfront stadium Rugby World Cup Minister Trevor Mallard, shrugged when asked for his choice of venue.
"I wouldn't have a clue."
The players were looking forward to the extended rest and reconditioning window which will see them miss the first seven weeks of next year's Super 14 competition in the lead-up to the 2007 Rugby World Cup in France.
