The night belonged to Fiji but the weekend was Wellington’s as the rugby sevens sideshow again saw the city erupt into one giant party.
Organisers and fans have described this year’s tournament as the best yet, with tourism bosses predicting it will contribute more than $8 million to the local economy.
Despite New Zealand being tipped out in the semifinals by Fiji, who went on to win the final, the 34,500 sellout Westpac Stadium crowd quickly forgot the loss and revved up the partying.
Fans devoured 21,600 mince pies, 18,000 hotdogs, 21,000 servings of chips and thousands of litres of beer and in the process turned the stadium into a scene of unbridled revelry.
Positively Wellington Tourism chief executive Tim Cossar said that, while it would be some time before official figures were known, this year’s tournament, held over a long weekend, was likely to better the $8 million traditionally injected into the city from the event.
“There was a real buzz about the city, with cafes and bars filled to the brim,” he said. “There’s also reports that a lot of retailers did very well on the Saturday morning, with the crowds out spending in the fine weather.
“The sevens continues to be a shining success story and from a tourism point of view contributes at the highest levels.”
For the record, Australia crashed and burned yet again.
