The Highlanders’ 38-21 win over the Hurricanes at Forsyth Barr Stadium on Saturday afternoon was a cracking game — just a pity no-one was there to see it in person.
With the whole country apart from Auckland on Alert Level 2, meaning only gatherings of up to 100 are allowed, empty seats were the order of the day everywhere under the roof.
A group of non-playing Highlanders was sitting in the lower reaches of the South Stand and that was about it.
Everyone not playing or directly involved in the game had to wear a mask.
There was no piped-in crowd noise as is the case on television, though the teams were read out just before the game started.
When the Hurricanes scored inside the opening five minutes all that could be heard was the players celebrating. When the Highlanders started scoring, the players in the stand yelled and cheered but that was about it.
Highlanders co-captain Ash Dixon summed it up: "It was bizarre. Half the time I am talking to Colesy [Hurricanes hooker Dane Coles] at scrum time, and we are both talking away at each other. You could hear everything, hear lineout calls — it was just funny. But once you zoned in on the game it was OK. You just had to get into the game as quick as you could," Dixon said.
"It was like a trial, two teams trialling for something. You did not have the energy of the crowd, the Zoo going nuts, the DJ playing, the bagpipes rolling through. It was just quiet."
Hurricanes coach Jason Holland said having no crowd was unusual but had no impact on the final result and his team.
The Hurricanes flew straight from Wellington at 7am on Saturday then went from Dunedin Airport to the ground, where they sat around in a lounge for a few hours before preparing for the game. They headed home straight after the match.
Highlanders coach Aaron Mauger felt his side adjusted to the empty stadium and it was no different from a high-intensity training run the side has at the stadium leading up to any game.
Most sports which played on Saturday limited spectators. Though there were reports of spectator numbers well above the 100 limit, some clubs created pods around grounds and most sports got through it unscathed.