Edwin Flack Avenue
Sydney Olympic Park NSW 2127 Australia Also or formerly known as Telstra Stadium, ANZ Stadium
Capacity 83,500
Floodlights Yes
Other sports Rugby League, Aussie Rules, Football, Speedway
Time 20:55, Wed Apr 24, 2024 (UTC +1000)
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Despite confusion over it's name, ANZ Stadium, formerly known as Telstra Stadium, but better known as Stadium Australia, is the record-breaking venue located in the Homebush area of Sydney that was built for the 2000 Olympics.
A record 114,714 spectators were present for the closing ceremony of those games which were a brilliant success for host nation Australia.
A crowd of 109,874 witnessed the classic Tri-Nations match in 2000 when a last gasp Jonah Lomu try saw the All Blacks sneak a 39-35 win over the Wallabies. The All Blacks had led the match 24-0 with 11 minutes played, only to see Australia draw level at 24 all by half time.
The famous stadium was reconfigured in 2001 to accommodate the oval field games of Australian rules football and cricket. This was accomplished by installing moveable seating, and removing upper tier seating, reducing capacity to 83,500.
The venue hosted eight matches during the 2003 Rugby World Cup, including the opening game, in which Australia beat Fiji 24-8, further Pool matches, both semi-finals, the third place play-of, and the final itself.
That final was the heart-stopping 20-17 victory for England over hosts Australia, in which Jonny Wilkinson kicked an extra-time drop goal to win it, following regular time tries from Lote Tuqiri and Jason Robinson.
ANZ Stadium is the national stadium of Australia, and is in constant use for national football and rugby fixtures as well as domestic National Rugby League, Australian Football League, soccer matches and speedway Grand Prix.
Sydney Olympic Park in Homebush is some distance away from the bright lights of Sydney proper, but a train or bus ride gets you straight into the heart of the city.
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