Concern has been expressed in rugby circles about the condition of the famous Eden Park, where the All Blacks will host the Springboks next weekend in the Tri-Nations competition.

In its early days, Eden Park was a rocky, tough piece of land, prone to flooding. These days, exasperated Auckland rugby coach Wayne Pivac reckons the ground might be suitable for golf rather than rugby.

The problem is the shallow-rooted poa grass, which Pivac said had returned after the ground staff tried to remove it. "With the sand base and the changes in direction and scrummaging, it just rips up the turf, a bit like a nice divot when you are playing golf.

"Obviously our concern is that when those divots come out it leaves holes in the ground and the players are open to rolling their ankles and all sorts of things," Pivac said.

Pivac said the surface was one of the worst first division grounds in the country. It is so bad that he has been forced to train his NPC side at Western Springs in an attempt to preserve Eden Park for the Test.

The poor state of the ground was underlined last Friday when Auckland squelched their way to an opening round NPC win against Southland.

The New Zealand Rugby Football Union has been talking with the controlling Eden Park Trust Board about the state of the ground. The trust board will in October discuss recommendations for an overhaul of the turf.

"That could range from new drainage to a major turf replacement system," chief executive John Alexander said. If the ground is ripped up and re-laid, that would not start until next November and would cost millions.

"We could not do it until then because we would need to grow a new synthetic mix surface outside the stadium." Alexander said the board had been concerned about the surface for some time.

After the opening NPC match, the ground staff had filled holes with turf plugs. But they had been unable to get any vehicles onto the ground to do more significant repair work.

The weather hasn't helped. "We have had 30 per cent more rainfall than usual this winter, we have had the coolest winter in four years and there has been little wind," Alexander said.

Auckland do not play at Eden Park again until September 14, when they host Waikato. - Sapa-NZPA