Carisbrook "The House Of Pain "

Most of you won't have a clue what I am on about but in my never ending quest to educate and civilise America this is a rugby blog. Yes America you have a team they and aren't to bad. The have qualified for the Rugby World Cup. But this blog is about the " Brook " one of the great rugby venues of the world that today was consigned to history.

It ended with a whimper as Otago  my team the home team went down to Southland.  Carisbook is known as the " house of pain " and when it comes to international rugby it is a an accurate description, I can't remember when the All Blacks last lost at Carisbrook

" Floodlit since the 1990s, it can cater for both day and night fixtures. Known locally simply as "The Brook", it has been branded with the name "The House of Pain", due to its reputation as a difficult venue for visiting teams."

I can't believe the Otago guys didn't step up and  give the " Brook" a fitting end the only consolation is that it was Southland  who beat us and they are part of the Highlanders Super 15 Franchise that is ( was ) based at Carisbrook. I am personally sad to see the end of the " Brook " it had a grand history and I am part of that.

Rugby has become a professional sport and the day of armature's has gone  and with that has come a demand for flash new stadia. The New Zealand Rugby Football Union ( NZRFU ) drove the stake through Carisbrook's heart, backed by the " Old farts "  sorry the International Rugby Board ( IRB ) the people we expect to build on the traditions that the rugby public hold very dear around the globe.

But sadly no. The ratepayers of Otago and Southland buckled under pressure and the result was this.

Yes it has a roof and it has a name but who would want a bunch of bloody stock brokers for a name when you had a name like Carisbrook, The Brook, The House Of Pain. Who the hell would want the huge debt that the people of Otago and Southland now shoulder so we can have the privilege of boosting the coffers of the the IRB and the NZRFU.

130 years of tradition gone for this

"The Forsyth Barr Stadium (officially Forsyth Barr Stadium at University Plaza) is a multi-purpose stadium in Dunedin, New Zealand.^[1][2] At various stages of development it was also known as Dunedin Stadium, Awatea Street Stadium, New Carisbrook, or its non-commercial official name during the 2011 Rugby World Cup, Otago Stadium^[3].

The stadium was opened by New Zealand Prime Minister John Key on 5 August 2011, replacing Carisbrook as the home stadium of the Highlanders team in Super Rugby and the Otago Rugby Football Union in the domestic ITM Cup. The stadium is scheduled to host four matches of the 2011 Rugby World Cup."

I guess I am a Luddite when it comes to rugby. Goodbye Carisbrook, you are the second to last great New Zealand rugby venue to close.  You join Lancaster Park and Athletic Park as part of rugby history and all we have left in New Zealand is Eden Park.

Lancaster park sounds a lot better than AMI Stadium ( a venue wreaked by the Christchurch earthquake ) and Athletic Park  was way better than Westpac Trust Stadium as names go.