NZ get 2011 RWC

[finlma]

New Zealand were chosen to host the 2011 Rugby World Cup.

Bad desicion in my opinion. I think it should have been given to Japan for the sake of developing rugby into more of a worldwide game. Having lived in NZ they don't have large enough stadium capacities to host the competition. Their stadiums are all pretty small, I think the biggest in Wellington holds 40,000.

[Soko]

Should have been given to Japan. Terrible decison imo.

[pete]

I don't know the specifics of each bid but seems narrow minded decision to send it to NZ again. How many times had it? You'd have thought it would be a black mark when IRB had to take it off NZ last time & give to Australia?

I'm sure facilities in Jaon would have been first rate too.

[crc]

How many times had it? You'd have thought it would be a black mark when IRB had to take it off NZ last time & give to Australia?
NZ have only had half of the RWC once, in 1987 (24 years before 2011)! NZ willbe great, but I think it should have gone to Japan.

I think Ireland, Scotland and Wales should bid for 2015 (without England)

[beautifulrock]

Should have gone to Japan, it would have given a massive boost to the game there. As we have seen NZ above all other countries do not need that. Short sightedness of the highest degree.

[dcfcsteve]

Shameful decision. Very bad for the game.

I'm a fan of rugby - go to at least one of Ireland's 6 nations away games every year, have been over to the Hong Kong 7's, and go to the occassional club and European game in England. But it dawned on me the other day (literally whilst having a dump...) that only 10 countries in the world take rugby seriously. They are :

England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, France, South Africa, New Zealand, Australia, Argentina and Georgia.

There is a second tier of 5 countries who play rugby, but not to any great level, and their populations have limited interest in the game :

Italy, Romania, USA, Japan, Namibia.

Then there are all the other countries who play it, but it'd be lucky to feature in their nation's Top 10 sports.

If only 10 countries in the world take the game seriously, then rugby is not a global sport ! For perspective, I counted 7 countries who take Baseball very seriously (US, Canada, Venezuala, Japan, Cuba, Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico), yet no-one would even pretend that that is a global sport.

So here was an opportunity for the IRB to give the game a massive boost in a huge country and an untapped continent. And what did they do ? Gave it to one of the old guard and their vested interests......

This decision will set 'world' rugby back years....

[Snoop Drog]

They could have given it to Japan and every stadium would have been empty. I worked briefly in Japan and there is really very little interest in the game. Good move giving it to the Kiwis IMO- Best team in the world deserve a chance to host.

Plus they have sufficient stadia:

Eden Park- cap 45,000
Dunedin Stadiun - cap 35,000
Eriksonn St- cap 25,000
Lancaster Pk: Must be around 25,000
Westpac Stadium: 35,000

Remember Ireland (a rugby 'superpower') played at Gosford during the last WC/. Cap 18,500. NZ has more than enough capacity for this event.

Plus dcfcsteve- Georgia taking ruby seriously??? You must be joking mate!
Population of Georgia:4,500,000
Number of rugby players: 300 (yep, three hundred)
Number of rugby pitches: 8

I reckon the All Blacks must be sh1tting themselves...

[gspain]

Shameful decision. Very bad for the game.


If only 10 countries in the world take the game seriously, then rugby is not a global sport ! For perspective, I counted 7 countries who take Baseball very seriously (US, Canada, Venezuala, Japan, Cuba, Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico), yet no-one would even pretend that that is a global sport.

...

Apart from one.

Ever heard of the WORLD Series? :D :D :D

Agree re Japan terrible decision. Furthermore NZ does not have the infrastructure to host the tournament, chronic shortage of hotel beds and poor stadia.

I was a bit surprised to see Georgia in your top 10.

[joeSoap]

Big plans following big decision
18/11/2005

New Zealand has promised to deliver the best rugby World Cup yet -- starting with a $130 million upgrade of Auckland's Eden Park.

No sooner had New Zealand been confirmed as the 2011 World Cup host and the New Zealand Rugby Union (NZRU) had printed off its list of promises to the International Rugby Board and nine bullet-pointed highlights of its bid.

The proposed months are September and October 2011, with 48 matches spread over 11 potential venues, with the prime knockout matches at Eden Park.

Capacity there will increase from 53,000 to 60,000.

NZRU chief executive Chris Moller said planning would immediately swing into action for the Eden Park upgrade, including the all-important question of who will pay for it.

"That hasn't been determined, but we've been making good progress and that should be significantly advanced by today's decision," Moller said.

The extension was not going ahead unless New Zealand won the hosting rights.

Other venues might get "an expansion and upgrade", and all would be "dedicated rugby venues".

Then there was the big issue that cost New Zealand the 2003 co-hosting rights with Australia -- the need to have `clean' stadiums free of advertising and all corporate boxes vacated.

"We learned you need clean stadia, and six years out we were able to confirm we had clean stadia," NZRU chairman Jock Hobbs said.

Moller said the bid had cost New Zealand up to $3.5 million -- split equally between the NZRU and the Government.

Prime Minister Helen Clark had vowed to underwrite the tournament so the IRB would be guaranteed the tournament fee.

Moller said the World Cup would cost New Zealand Stg60 million ($NZ152.05 million) to run.

Another pre-vote talking point was New Zealand's size and infrastructure, which had come through the Lions tour with flying colours.

Moller said there were currently 36,000 hotel beds in Auckland, and even without the World Cup hosting rights, that was expected to rise to 46,000 by 2011.

Moller expected 60,000-plus visitors to New Zealand for the tournament, and "a full spectrum of accommodation and travel options from five- and six-star through to budget".

It promised "unparalleled visitor experiences".

Hobbs said it was guaranteed to be the most profitable World Cup because of skyrocketing television rights which would make up about 60 percent of tournament revenue.

"Should it all be about money? If it is all about money then the tournament will just rotate around four or five countries," Hobbs said.

"It's a professional sport but I think we all believe there's a balance to be struck between the commercial side of the game and traditional rugby values of the game.

"Today was a true test of that belief."

New Zealand's bid said it would also provide the best television coverage, full stadia throughout the tournament, and build on the popularity of breakfast viewing in the Northern Hemisphere from the 2003 tournament in Australia.

[Schumi]

only 10 countries in the world take rugby seriously. They are: England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, France, South Africa, New Zealand, Australia, Argentina and Georgia.

There is a second tier of 5 countries who play rugby, but not to any great level, and their populations have limited interest in the game :

Italy, Romania, USA, Japan, Namibia.
A fair point but rugby would be big in places like Fiji, Tonga and Samoa too. If the IRB gave **** about them and gave them some support, they would be much more competitive.

[jofyisgod]

Eek-The FAI haven't merged with the IRB have they? Poor decision, would they ever think of the future, and not short term flattery of a nation in no need of more rugby being advertised.

[Dodge]

Good decision IMO. japan simply doesn't want the RWC. Its Rugby federation might but no real interest in the country for it.

[Macy]

Apart from one.

Ever heard of the WORLD Series?
Yeah, named after it's first sponsor, the newspaper "The World"- FACT. :D

[gspain]

Yeah, named after it's first sponsor, the newspaper "The World"- FACT. :D

It wasn't

http://www.snopes.com/business/names/worldseries.asp

FACT. :D

[Thunderblaster]

Do you honestly expect the rugby world cup to be played in a country with serious stadium infrastructure, like Germany or Japan and no one to go to the games? Georgia is not a top ten rugby nation, Italy, just about, is. Apart from France, Italy and Argentina, the top rugby nations are really big British or ex British Commonwealth countries.

[Drumcondra Red]

dcfcsteve, you'd rate Georga above Romainia, and you'd have Italy in the lower teir??? I'm so confused, also what about the pacific islands, they breath the game in places like Fiji, Tonga, Somoa etc, also the likes of USA and Canada are begining to take the game very seriously over the last decade, NZ a good decision? Yes, why? As said before they co-hosted in 1987 and are one of the biggest and best forces in world rugby, although they should have hosted it before in turn giving it to Japan this time...

[dcfcsteve]

They could have given it to Japan and every stadium would have been empty. I worked briefly in Japan and there is really very little interest in the game. Good move giving it to the Kiwis IMO- Best team in the world deserve a chance to host.

Plus they have sufficient stadia:

Eden Park- cap 45,000
Dunedin Stadiun - cap 35,000
Eriksonn St- cap 25,000
Lancaster Pk: Must be around 25,000
Westpac Stadium: 35,000

The same was said about the Soccer World Cups in both the US and Japan.

The Japanese people have consistently shown themselves willing to support major sporting events in their country. Name me one they haven't....

The stadiums in NZ are woefully inadequate - a point that was accepted by the IRb itself in its summary of the merits of each venue. A bigger issue is the lack of accommodation in the countrey - they're even talking of having people sleeping in Winnebago's !!!

Anyone who thinks the vote that gave NZ the 2011 Rugby World Cup was anything other than a stitch-up is very, very niaive. Ireland, in particular, reneged on a promise to support South Africa in the first-round of voting - which would've seen NZ knocked-out at that stage. To make it worse, Ireland then pushed to have any information on the vote kept secret (incl the total number iof votes cast for each country).
[/QUOTE]



Plus dcfcsteve- Georgia taking ruby seriously??? You must be joking mate!
Population of Georgia:4,500,000
Number of rugby players: 300 (yep, three hundred)
Number of rugby pitches: 8

I reckon the All Blacks must be sh1tting themselves...

Well - if you'd checked more than just the single page on Wikipedia that gave you the above, you may have found out that rugby is Georgia's second most popular sport (and first in popularity stakes in large chunks of the country). Is that not serious enough for you ? Sh!t doesn't equate with being serious - Ireland are sh!t at International rules, for example...

And the problem with the above stats you gave is that the Georgians have their own indigenous sport very similar to rugby, so you'll find that in realuity there are many, many more than just 300 people playing rugby there.

[dcfcsteve]

dcfcsteve, you'd rate Georga above Romainia, and you'd have Italy in the lower teir??? I'm so confused, also what about the pacific islands, they breath the game in places like Fiji, Tonga, Somoa etc, also the likes of USA and Canada are begining to take the game very seriously over the last decade, NZ a good decision? Yes, why? As said before they co-hosted in 1987 and are one of the biggest and best forces in world rugby, although they should have hosted it before in turn giving it to Japan this time...

Guys, guys, guys,

PLEASE read my first post again ! :rolleyes: I did NOT say that Georgia are 'better' than anyone. Or indeed that any team was better than any other team !

I split rugby playing nations into how seriously the sports are taken in those countries. Being sh!t at something doesn't mean you don't take it seriously - look at football in Scotland, or International Rules in Ireland.

Rugby is the second most popular sport in Georgia. Hence why it's people can be considered to take it more seriously than countries like Italy and Romania, where it would struggle to make a Top 5 of sports.....

I neglected to include Pacific Island nations, which was an oversight. Adding Fiji, Samoa etc, however, doesn't really reduce the impact of my point. Rugby is not a 'world' sport. The IRB had an opportunity here to give a significant boost to the game in a major country and continent. Instead they all sold their votes to New Zealand in return for a few money-spinning test games.

Don't be surprised if by 2025 very few additional nations are taking rugby seriously.....

[Snoop Drog]

so you'll find that in realuity there are many, many more than just 300 people playing rugby there.

many, many more? Thanks for clarifying that. I have updated Wikipaedia by deleting '300' and replacing it with 'many, many'. :rolleyes:

[Snoop Drog]

Guys, guys, guys,

Being sh!t at something doesn't mean you don't take it seriously - look at football in Scotland, or International Rules in Ireland.

That's not the same thing mate. Ireland wins about half of the International Rules test series (usually the Aus ones whereby The Aussies normally win in Dublin). And I reckon the Scots are better at football than the Georgians are at rugby- The Scots would do better against Brazil (maybe, worse case lose 3 or 4 nil. Best case win 1 nil or scrape a draw???) at football than Georgia would do against the All Blacks (Georgia would be lucky to keep NZ under 100 points...unless they fielded their 'many, many' players all at once).

[dcfcsteve]

That's not the same thing mate. Ireland wins about half of the International Rules test series (usually the Aus ones whereby The Aussies normally win in Dublin). And I reckon the Scots are better at football than the Georgians are at rugby- The Scots would do better against Brazil (maybe, worse case lose 3 or 4 nil. Best case win 1 nil or scrape a draw???) at football than Georgia would do against the All Blacks (Georgia would be lucky to keep NZ under 100 points...unless they fielded their 'many, many' players all at once).

Snoop - please read what I've said in all my previous posts. I listed Georgia because they take rugby seriously (it being their 2nd most popular sport. And yes - they do have other sports there...), NOT because they're any good at it!

Please accept the fact that the 2nd most popular sport in Georgia is rugby. Snide remarks over semantics doesn't change that...

And your comment re the relative balance of Scotland v Brazil in football and Georgia v NZ in rugby just goes to show the inherent imbalance/farce in 'world' rugby. Hosting World Cups in countries where rugby is unlikely to grow much more won't help to address that.

[joeSoap]

Yeah, named after it's first sponsor, the newspaper "The World"- FACT.


It wasn't

http://www.snopes.com/business/names/worldseries.asp

FACT.

Removed that foot from your mouth yet Macy??;) :D :D

[Snoop Drog]

Please accept the fact that the 2nd most popular sport in Georgia is rugby. .

What about this indeginous game you mentioned? less popular than rugby? Ans ice hockey- Huge in soviet states.

Anyhow Im bored with this arguement now (short MTV generation attention span). You win steve- Georgia are a top tiered rugby team...

[dcfcsteve]

Anyhow Im bored with this arguement now (short MTV generation attention span). You win steve- Georgia are a top tiered rugby team...

Here Snoop - why can't you just accept that rugby is the second most popular sport in Georgia ? That's a fact. Even your beloved Wikipedia concurs :D A couple of quotes and stats from there for you :


"When Georgia played Russia in the European Nations Cup (My note : the second-tier rugby tournament, which Georgia won in 2001/2) 65,000 people crammed into the national stadium in Tbilisi, and another 44,000 watched Georgia beat Russia 17-13 to qualify for the 2003 Rugby Union World Cup".

Thats bigger crowds than Ireland get....


"Rugby league is still virtually unknown in Georgia but the National competition and international tournaments are starting to make their mark. Also, rugby union is the second most popular sport in Georgia, after football (soccer), and so it is reasonable to expect that rugby league would find an immediate audience. Tsintsadze, the founding Georgian rugby league federations member, hopes that the strong rugby regions, in particular Western Georgia, which has a long history of producing international rugby union players, has the talent to support a rugby league team in the national competition"

And for the last time, as I've stated all along they are most definitely NOT a top-tier rugby team in any sense other than the popularity of the game in their own nation.

I'm getting your MTV subscription cancelled.... :)

[Snoop Drog]

I'm getting your MTV subscription cancelled.... :)

I might just do that-MTV is sh1t these days anyway.

[joeSoap]

The International Rugby Board have reaffirmed their commitment to the global game following heavy criticism for awarding the 2011 World Cup to New Zealand instead of Japan.

The Japanese bid team had neatly positioned themselves as the only choice for the future of the game and were angered by the results of last week’s secret ballot in Dublin.

Australia and England both quickly revealed they had voted for Japan – but at least four of the leading nations are understood to have sided with New Zealand.

Japan’s bid chief, former prime minister Yoshiro Mori, accused the established unions of protecting their monopoly on hosting the World Cup and declared: “The ideal of rugby has disappeared with this decision. Only the interests of the bigger unions remain.

“The established nations keep passing the ball around their friends. World rugby has lost a big opportunity because of this decision.”

The IRB today issued a detailed response, highlighting the work being done to develop rugby around the world and insisting the sport’s global future is not dependent on which union is selected to host a World Cup.

The IRB statement read: “Since the announcement of the host union for Rugby World Cup 2011 there has been a lot said and written about the future growth and development of rugby worldwide.

“The IRB would like to make it very clear that there is in place a fully-funded strategic plan for the development of the game. The IRB is totally committed to making rugby a truly global sport.

“It must be remembered that there is much more to the successful development of rugby worldwide than the awarding of a tournament to a single host nation.

“It is what happens during the rest of the four-year cycle and beyond that really grows the game.

“Investment in infrastructure, high performance initiatives, development programmes and tournament structures worldwide on a consistent basis and over a long period are the keys to success.

“The IRB is working hard to put the initiatives and programmes in place to drive and manage this development.”

[pete]

What countries got a vote? Surely not just the big nations? Imagine if that happened with FIFA?

:rolleyes:

[dcfcsteve]

What countries got a vote? Surely not just the big nations? Imagine if that happened with FIFA?

:rolleyes:

I'm guessing all members of the IRB (or at least senior members) got a vote, as the combined voting tally was approx 90. Then again - that's making the dangerous assumption it's one Union, one vote....!

Ireland definitely voted for New Zealand - having originally promised their vote to South Africa - and actually lead the initiative to makle the vote a secret ballot. They didn't even want the split of total numbers in the vote made public in-case they were caught out. However - it was, and they were.

Look forward to NZ opening the new Lansdowne Rd, and a few other test games from them, in the next 4 years as our 40 pieces of silver....:o

[gspain]

It is a true democracy. We got 2 votes along with the other 7 IRB nations. :eek: Japan and the other nations got 1 each.

The IRFU should hang their heads in shame here. Although they succeeded in keeping it a secret ballot it is well known that we changed sides. Watch out for New Zealand opening the new Lansdowne road and becoming much more frequent visitors here.

Having been to Japan for the football world cup I can testify that a rugby world cup there would have been a huge success. If you must go to a traditional nation then south Africa has the infrastructure and the stadia and the Euro friendly timezone for TV. NZ is rugby daft but with crumbling stadia and poor infrastructure especially a distincy lack of hotel beds this has been a terrible choice.