Tauranga Domain

The ground does not sit on a plot of its own. It unfolds within a public park, where the Constitution Gates from 1921 mark the entrance long before the sports began. The land was reserved in 1873, followed by pavilions in the 1890s. Tauranga Domain has never been enclosed by a single purpose-built structure. It is a living reserve.

The playing surface is natural grass, though patches of artificial turf have appeared over the years to cover uneven ground. The Bay of Plenty Steamers play here, alongside various cricket and football clubs. The capacity for rugby is listed as 5,000, a figure that has been debated.

The records are not kept in a modern database. The attendance record stands at 23,000, set on August 10, 1971, when the British Lions beat Bay of Plenty in a Rugby Union match. Spectators watched from temporary scaffolding stands built overnight. That number dwarfs the 4,860 who turned up for the first National Provincial Championship (NPC) match in 2015.

More recently, the venue hosted its first NPC top-tier semifinal on October 19, 2024, when Bay of Plenty faced Canterbury. It has also seen music, hosting the One Love Festival in January 2025. The address is 91 Cameron Road, Tauranga 3110. The ground is managed by the Tauranga City Council, which maintains the official page for the park. The site is known officially as Tauranga and Wharepai Domains, but the second name is rarely used.