The Royal Bafokeng Sports Palace will be used for the opening game of the 2009 British and Irish Lions tour of South Africa, having only staged one Test match before as the Springboks defeated the All Blacks 21-20 in 2006.

The stadium is in Rustenburg in the North West Province and was opened in 1999. The stadium was entirely funded by the Royal Bafokeng community, an entity which presides over the world's richest platinum mines.

The stadium is primarily used for soccer and will host six games during the 2010 World Cup, having been completed in March 2009 in order to host four games of the FIFA Confederation Cup. The capacity of the ground is 42, 000 and its West Stand possesses a US$45m cantilever roof.