New Zealand Prime Minister John Key says security at the venue for next year's rugby union World Cup final is under review after "loutish" crowds marred the Kiwis v Kangaroos rugby league Test on the weekend.

Fighting broke out in the stands of Auckland's Eden Park and dozens of bottles were hurled at players during the Four Nations series league Test on Saturday night.

Key described the scenes as a "disaster" and said New Zealand could not afford similar trouble during the World Cup, the largest sporting event ever held in the country.

"It was loutish-type behaviour," Key told TVNZ.

"We're going to go away and look at the footage and obviously the level of security on display at Eden Park and make sure if there are holes in the system that they're plugged."

He said troublemakers would be ejected from World Cup grounds and called on fans to "act like grown ups" during the tournament, which is expected to draw a global television audience of four billion.

While alcohol was cited as a major factor behind the problems, along with the home side's poor performance in a 34-20 loss to Australia, Key played down the prospect of booze bans at World Cup venues.

"Even if you say there will be no booze sold at Eden Park, you can't stop people pre-loading and having far too much alcohol before they get there," he said.

Police superintendent Brett England said the crowd behaviour, which resulted in six arrests, was disappointing.

"Fights broke out around the stadium throughout the night and this behavior was clearly alcohol fuelled," England said.

Auckland mayor Len Brown questioned how effectively an alcohol ban in streets surrounding the stadium had been enforced and said lessons must be learned for the World Cup, which runs from September 9 to October 23.

"It is important to get the organisation around major events as good as it can be so we minimise any negative impacts and make the event as enjoyable as possible for those attending," he said.

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