Ellis Park Stadium, Loftus Versfeld Stadium, Cape Town Stadium, Kings Park Stadium, Newlands Stadium, Mbombela Stadium, Free State Stadium
Johannesburg, South Africa
Formerly: Coca-Cola Park, Emirates Airline Park, 10bet Ellis Park
Ellis Park Stadium has kept its original name despite the commercial sponsors that have come and gone. Coca-Cola Park, Emirates Airline Park, 10bet Ellis Park — the titles changed, but the building did not.
The pitch is natural grass, and the lines are painted on the same surface for rugby and for soccer. The stadium hosted the 1995 Rugby World Cup final and was renovated for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.The address is 47 Siemert Road, Doornfontein, and the postcode brings you into a part of Johannesburg that still feels like the old city rather than the new financial district. The crowds here tend to be split between two codes, which means the atmosphere shifts depending on which match is on the programme. Rugby fans bring the noise; football fans bring the drums. Both fill the same seats.
The floodlights stand tall on four posts around the perimeter, and they are not angled in the way you see on newer grounds. They point down rather than out, which means the shadows fall straight under the players when the sun is low. The screen in the centre is not massive by modern standards, but it is enough to show replays of the incident that went to review.There is unrest in the dressing room before every big derby, whether the sport is rugby or soccer. The old head settles them down. The ground does not mind which game it is hosting — the crowd is the same, the weather is the same, and the way the ball bounces on natural grass is the same.
Who plays here
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South Africa
41 matches
Recent matches here
| Date | Match | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 12 Sep | South Africa — New Zealand | 43:28 |
| 5 Sep | South Africa — New Zealand | 29:24 |
| 29 Aug | South Africa — New Zealand | 33:26 |
| 22 Aug | South Africa — New Zealand | 16:33 |
| 18 Jul | South Africa — Wales | 43:0 |
| 11 Jul | South Africa — Scotland | 42:28 |
| 4 Jul | South Africa — England | 45:21 |
| 20 Jun | South Africa — Barbarians | 80:31 |