The opening fixture of this new rugby competition will pit New Zealand against France in a brand-new 30,000-seat arena. Fifteen years on from the 2011 earthquake, Christchurch will reconnect with the international game at the highest level and provide a setting steeped in history for this eagerly awaited clash.

The match will be the first of a run of three All Blacks fixtures in New Zealand: after France, Scott Robertson’s side will host Italy in Wellington and then Ireland in Auckland. Kick-off, set for 7.10am (local time), should give French supporters an early-morning appointment.

According to New Zealand officials, playing at home in front of their own supporters “always has a special dimension“, but this match in Christchurch has a “historic” character, a first of strong symbolic weight for the “reconnected city“.

That 4 July therefore shapes up as a sporting turning point but a symbolic one too, with French rugby meeting the legacy of a city that was scarred and has since been rebuilt, in a modern setting full of emotion.