KEY POINTS:
Eden Park will struggle to attract a crowd of 20,000 to tonight's Air NZ Cup final between Auckland and Wellington.
Fast forward 12 hours and 80,000 fans will pour into Stade de France in Paris for the Rugby World Cup final between England and South Africa.
Fast forward
"another four years" and a revamped Eden Park will be playing host to the Rugby World Cup on October 23, 2011.
Eleven months after Auckland said "no" to a waterfront stadium and two years after All Black captain Tana Umaga and Prime Minister Helen Clark gave impassioned speeches in Dublin to help New Zealand secure the 2011 event, nothing has happened at Eden Park.
The turf contains some of the nation's most glorious sporting memories, but the motley collection of stands - with the exception of the ASB Stand - go together like Wayne Barnes and the All Blacks.
Aucklander Greg Hornblow followed the All Blacks on their 2004-05 European tour and was hugely impressed by the architecture, atmosphere and ease of access to the $570 million Stade de France in the formerly rundown suburb of St Denis.
For sheer passion and atmosphere, it reminded the 41-year-old of some of the great Ranfurly Shield challenges of the 1980s.
Englishman Nigel Griffiths, who has lived in New Zealand for two years and been to many famous grounds around the world, said Stade de France topped the list for watching rugby. Huge double-decker trains a few hundred metres from the stadium made coming and going a breeze.
Rugby World Cup Minister Trevor Mallard did not want to be interviewed on preparations for Eden Park, but issued a statement saying things were on track and he was expecting an update in the next month or so.
"By all accounts France has been a fantastic host and I'm sure we will be taking lessons from how they organised the tournament and got their region involved," Mr Mallard said.
The minister did not want to respond to the promise from new Auckland City Mayor John Banks to pull a $30 million ratepayers' contribution towards a $190 million upgrade.
The effect of Mr Banks' view that the stadium upgrade is the responsibility of the "cash-rich Government and the rich and powerful Rugby Union" reduces the chances of any local government funding for Eden Park. This would put Auckland at odds with other territorial and regional councils, which have contributed to stadium projects (see left).
A Herald-DigiPoll survey last month found 51.5 per cent support among Auckland City residents for giving money to upgrade Eden Park, compared to 45.5 per cent opposed.
According to the Eden Park redevelopment board chief executive Adam Feeley, preliminary designs for the upgrade are only weeks away.
The Herald understands the cost of upgrading Eden Park has gone over budget and a "value management" workshop will require a number of trade-offs.
Among improvements from February, when the Government set a tight $190 million budget, are a jazzed up south stand with more permanent seats and a deeper roof to provide more covered seats. Temporary seating would be used to make up the remaining seats to meet the International Rugby Board's requirement of a 60,000-seat stadium for the Cup final. Eden Park currently has a capacity of 47,500 seats.
The absence of local government funding would almost certainly sink plans by the Eden Park Trust Board to replace the terraces with a $60 million stand.
Andrew McKenzie, the council's finance manager, said there were a whole raft of projects "chucked in the mix" but the authority was waiting for the refined design from Eden Park before councillors would decide what it should commit to.
