The Telstra Stadium, or Stadium Australia as it was known then, was the centrepiece of the Sydney Olympics in 2000 having cost more than $600 million and taken two and a half years to build in the Homebush Bay area of the city.
Opened in March 1999, the Telstra Stadium has a capacity of 83,500, its initial capacity of 110,000 having been reduced via a $80 million post-Olympic Games reconfiguration program.
The state-of-the-art national Stadium, built on the site of the former main cattle holding yards of Homebush Abattoirs, also incorporates environmental features such as the use of natural light and pollution-reducing materials where possible, as well as recycled water and water-saving devices.
The Telstra Stadium will not only host the opening game of Rugby World Cup 2003, involving world champions Australia and Argentina on October 10, but both semi-finals together with the final and third place play-off.
Two other Pool games scheduled for the Telstra Stadium, which is 11 kilometres from Sydney’s Central Business District, are the Pool B encounter between France and Scotland on 15 October and New Zealand’s match against Wales in Pool D on 2 November.
How to get there:
The nearest train station to the Telstra Stadium is Olympic Park, which is only a five-minute walk from the venue and a 20-minute journey from Central Station.
Alternatively, special event buses run to Olympic Park on 12 routes across Sydney with pick-up and set-down points situated just 400 metres from the stadium itself.
A more scenic option is the RiverCat ferry, which takes 30 minutes from Circular Quay to Homebush Bay Wharf from where shuttle buses run to the Telstra Stadium. There are also 10,000 parking spaces, to be booked in advance, close to the venue.