Otago and Southland supporters will be able to book their seats to the July 12 test, the first in Dunedin since 2005, two weeks before the rest of the country.
‘‘It's about encouraging people down here to be involved. The test is a vital part of rugby in the South,'' Otago Rugby Football Union marketing manager Chris Green said yesterday.
‘‘One of the issues people have had in the past is feeling all tickets are sold to northerners and they don't get a look in.
‘‘This is to say to people in the South that they get first bite at the cherry before we sell nationwide. It's what people want, and we're giving it to them.''
The first tickets will be available in two weeks, when members of the rugby community like club and school players, volunteers and former players have the chance to make preferential bookings.
A major launch on June 3, at which All Black great Colin Meads will be the guest on his 72nd birthday, will encourage the public to get tickets for the game that marks 100 years of test rugby at Carisbrook.
The ORFU and the working party formed to promote the test are yet to determine how they can ensure ticket-buyers are genuine Southerners. It could be as simple as asking buyers for a legitimate address, or using password pro tection for online bookings.
It has also been con firmed the test will feature the tent village concept that was popular in Dunedin tests in the 1990s but was discarded when Carisbrook starting hosting night tests in 2002.
‘‘We're still working through how it's going to be made up where it's going to be and what's going to be included in it. But there will be some sort of tent village,'' Green said.
‘‘When we looked at what makes Dunedin special on a test weekend, there were a number of things. One of the things that came back strongly was the tent village. We've had a lot of people ringing and asking if we're having it again.''
The first test at Carisbrook was played on June 6, 1908, with the All Blacks beating Anglo-Welsh 32-5. The most recent test was on August 27, 2005, when the Al Blacks unveiled their new Kapa o Pango haka and beat the Springboks 31-27 in front of a crowd of 29,500.
This year's test could be the last played at Carisbrook, with a new stadium to be built near Logan Park and no guarantee the existing ground will be given another test.
Neither New Zealand rugby nor the All Blacks were impressed when there were more than 4000 unsold tickets days before the 2005 test.
