Grounds
Starting with the 2012 season, the Highlanders moved into the Forsyth Barr Stadium, opened in August 2011. It was built to replace their original home of Carisbrook, which was no longer suitable for international rugby, or as a venue for the 2011 Rugby World Cup. The Carisbrook Stadium Trust was established in 2006 to manage the planning and construction of a new stadium. The new stadium is not on the current Carisbrook site, but instead near the University of Otago and Otago Harbour. It is a roofed, all weather stadium with a rectangular configuration, and permanent seating capacity of 25,000 that could be expanded to 30,748 if necessary.
The Highlanders' original home ground was the 29,000 capacity Carisbrook in Dunedin. Carisbrook is also known as "The Brook", or as "The House of Pain" due to its reputation as a difficult venue to visit. The stadium was also well known for Dunedin's large student population (known as "Scarfies") that occupied the terraces—an uncovered concrete embankment at the eastern end of the ground.
The Highlanders usually play at least one regular season match outside of Dunedin, at either Rugby Park in Invercargill or the Queenstown Events Centre in Queenstown. Prior to 2007 the regular season match was usually played at Rugby Park, however in 2007 they played a match at the Queenstown Events Centre. The Highlanders have also played pre-season matches at Centennial Park in Oamaru and at the Showgrounds in Balclutha.
On March 28, 2009, the Highlanders played a home game at FMG Stadium in Palmerston North against the Bulls. This game attracted a crowd of 10,000; one of the Highlanders' biggest of the 2009 season.
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