The city, the stadium and supporters have been lauded for playing their parts in a successful event when the Rugby World Cup arrived in Dunedin on Saturday.
Only minor niggles were reported from a night when England fought to a tight 13-9 victory over Argentina, and even a fire callout to the sold-out Otago Stadium during the game could not dampen enthusiasm.
The performance of the venue was given a big tick by Rugby World Cup New Zealand 2011 chief executive Martin Snedden, who said it was "sensational".
The atmosphere inside the stadium - packed with 26,000 fans including thousands from overseas - was "unbelievable".
Dunedin Venues Management Ltd chief executive David Davies said there were "a couple of back-of-house building issues", one of which was a cigarette left burning on material outside the stadium, and the fumes entering an air duct. That resulted in a 9.45pm response from the Dunedin Central fire station after the fumes were noted inside, but there were no serious problems.
The evening included five spectators being ejected, one streaker, and someone who thought it would be a good idea to try to climb the stadium fence, but those were the sort of issues you would expect when such a large crowd turned up for an event.
Those problems were overshadowed by the success of the night, he said, and the work of the many volunteers who made it possible, whom Mr Davies was keen to thank.
Dunedin City Council Rugby World Cup co-ordinator Debra Simes said that from the city's point of view, the event was highly successful.
Ms Simes said the council had gone into an event bigger than any before with a traffic management plan that was untested, despite "rigorous reviews" beforehand.
In the end, traffic had flowed "quite smoothly", though there would be a full review today.
The aim had been to provide safe travel for both vehicles and pedestrians, and that had been successful.
The England rugby team also gave the stadium its official seal of approval.
At a press conference in Queenstown yesterday, England defence coach Mike Ford said the players thought the stadium was "great".
"They had no qualms with the pitch - it was fantastic. Coming off the field after the warm-up they were saying what an atmosphere it was.
"We are very, very pleased to be playing there for our next two games."
It was reported 750,000 New Zealanders watched Sky Sports 1 and Maori Television's coverage of the game.
England's next World Cup game at Otago Stadium will be against Georgia on Sunday. It plays Romania in Dunedin on September 24.
