Additional seating installed for French test

The stand is going up and ticket are going out, with predictions next month's test will be a sell-out.

The test between the All Blacks and France on June 23 is looming ever closer and the stand at the Otago Daily Times end of the stadium was being built yesterday.

It will boost the capacity of the stadium to 28,000 for the test.

Otago Rugby Football Union general manager Richard Kinley said ticket sales were where they were expected to be at this time, although he refused to divulge how many had been sold.

He did say there were still plenty of tickets available, and in good areas, but he was confident the match would be a sell-out.

The union was taking calls every day for tickets and Kinley said there was good interest in the test.

The All Blacks will arrive in Dunedin on the Sunday before the match - June 17 - and will be in the city the whole week.

Kinley said the union was looking to do something with the All Blacks to promote the game, but that had yet to be finalised.

The annual All Blacks re-union dinner will take place in Dunedin on the Friday night before the test at the Dunedin Town Hall, so there will be a lot of former All Blacks in Dunedin for the weekend.

The French will not be arriving in the South until later in the week, mirroring teams of recent years which have stayed away from the city until later in the test week.

The test series kicks off in Auckland on June 9, with the second test in Wellington on June 16.