Only booked early birds catch opener

A general view of the Wembley Stadium just after kick-off of an NFL football game. Photo / AP

If you are up early today you'll still be too late to catch the opening Rugby World Cup game at one downtown Auckland bar.

The Fox Sporting Bar & Restaurant on Customs St West yesterday stopped taking bookings for their special England v Fiji screening this morning.

A worker said: "We're fully booked and have about 60 people coming. All the dining tables around the bar have been taken up."

The bar will show all cup matches live.

"We've got flags all around the bar. It's gonna be great," the Fox employee said.

Gables Kitchen & Bar in Herne Bay will be open this morning. Duty manager Linda Claesson said they had a few staff rostered on specially. About 30 people had booked for breakfast.

On Monday fans will need to get up even earlier for the All Blacks' first game.

Their match at the famous Wembley Stadium against Argentina kicks off at 3.45am. The delayed replay on Prime starts at a more respectable 6am.

A spokesman for the Auckland Council said there were no fan zones planned along the lines of those during the 2011 Rugby World Cup.