2011 Rugby World Cup

2011 Rugby World Cup

Tournament details
Host nation	New Zealand
Dates	9 September – 23 October
No. of nations	20 (91 qualifying)
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The 2011 Rugby World Cup will be the seventh Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby unioncompetition inaugurated in 1987. At a meeting of theInternational Rugby Board (IRB) held in Dublin on 17 November 2005, New Zealand was selected as the host country in preference to Japan and South Africa. There were two rounds of voting by the IRB Council to decide the host nation, with South Africa eliminated in the first round.

The event is expected to cost about NZ$310 million to run and will generate NZ$280 million in ticket sales.^[1] It will be the largest sporting event ever held in New Zealand, eclipsing the 1987 Rugby World Cup, 1990 Commonwealth Games, 1992 Cricket World Cup, 2003 America's Cup and 2005 British and Irish Lions tour to New Zealand.^{[citation needed]} Around 70,000 visitors from overseas are expected to travel to New Zealand for the associated games and events.^[2]

The event is scheduled to be played over seven weekends from the weekend starting 10 September and culminating the weekend starting 22 October 2011.^[3] The weekend of the final was chosen so it falls on a long weekend caused by the New Zealand public holiday of Labour Day (Monday, 24 October 2011).^[4] The final is scheduled to be played in Auckland at Eden Park.^[3]

As of 19 February 2008, New Zealand's progress in preparing and implementing plans for the event received an A+ rating from the International Rugby Board's chairman and chief executive.^[5]

After months of speculation that the number of participating teams would be reduced to 16, the IRB announced on Friday, 30 November 2007 that the 2011 tournament would again feature 20 teams.^[6]Twelve teams qualified as a result of finishing in the top three in each pool in the 2007 tournament. The remaining eight berths will be determined by regional qualifying tournaments.^[7]

Bids

New Zealand co-hosted the first Rugby World Cup with Australia in 1987. However, its lack of accommodation and sporting stadiums were speculated as impediments to future chances. Originally set to co-host the 2003 tournament with Australia, a disagreement over ground signage rights saw the New Zealand games dropped and Australia became the sole host. Prior to the 2005 Lions tour to New Zealand, critics doubted that New Zealand had the infrastructure to host an event of this size. The New Zealand bid contained plans to enlarge the size of Eden Park to help increase the commercial viability of the bid.

Of the three candidates, Japan was widely expected to win hosting rights. It was believed to be the desire of the IRB to move the tournament from the traditional rugby nations such as New Zealand and South Africa. If it were to have been held in Japan it would be the first time a Rugby World Cup had taken place in Asia. With stadiums from the 2002 FIFA World Cup, it had the necessary infrastructure already in place. Japan would eventually succeed in its aim to host a World Cup in 2009, when it was awarded the 2019 Rugby World Cup.

The South African bid, led by former national captain Francois Pienaar, had strong support from their government. It successfully hosted the tournament in 1995. There was belief throughout the rugby union community that the organisation of the Rugby World Cup would be overshadowed by the organisation for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

The New Zealand bid was led by the New Zealand Rugby Union (at the time of bidding known as the New Zealand Rugby Football Union) and supported by the New Zealand Government, through the Prime Minister and current players, represented by the All Black captain. After winning the bid, the NZRFU expressed extreme disappointment towards their Australian counterparts who voted against New Zealand hosting the event, due to the NZRFU's misplaced expectation that the "ANZAC spirit" would result in a vote for New Zealand. After South Africa was voted out of the running for the hosting rights, their rugby union openly stated that they voted for New Zealand, as they remembered the anti-apartheid sentiment that average New Zealanders had demonstrated during the 1981 South African Tour.

After an IRB inspection of each applicant host nation during June and July 2005, the winning bid ofNew Zealand was announced during the IRB Council meeting in Dublin on 17 November 2005.

Qualification

Twenty teams will compete in the 2011 World Cup. Nineteen places have so far been allocated. The following twelve teams qualified for the 2011 World Cup by finishing in the top 3 of their group in the2007 Rugby World Cup:^[7][8]

•  Argentina
•  Australia
•  England
•  Fiji
•  France
•  Ireland
•  Italy
•  New Zealand
•  Scotland
•  South Africa
•  Tonga
•  Wales

The following seven teams qualified for the 2011 World Cup through regional qualifying competitions:

•  Canada
•  Georgia
•  Japan
•  Namibia
•  Russia
•  Samoa
•  United States

Venues

The 13 venues for the 2011 Rugby World Cup were confirmed on 12 March 2009.^[9]

City	Stadium	Capacity
Auckland	Eden Park	63,000*
Auckland	North Harbour Stadium	35,000*
Whangarei	Northland Events Centre	25,000
Hamilton	Waikato Stadium	40,000*
Rotorua	Rotorua International Stadium	35,000
New Plymouth	Yarrow Stadium	24,000
Napier	McLean Park	22,000
Palmerston North	Arena Manawatu	18,000
Wellington	Westpac Stadium	40,000*
Nelson	Trafalgar Park	16,000
Christchurch	AMI Stadium	50,000*
Dunedin	Carisbrook or Forsyth Barr Stadium	30,000* or 35,000-38,000
Invercargill	Rugby Park	19,000

A number of the venues announced are undergoing redevelopment to increase capacity for the event. Dunedin is currently building a new stadium namedForsyth Barr Stadium at University Plaza, due for completion in August 2011. If completed on schedule, it will be used instead of Carisbrook.^[10]

Auckland options

On 10 November 2006, the New Zealand Government announced plans for Stadium New Zealand for the 2011 Rugby World Cup. The proposal was to build the new stadium seating 70,000 on the Auckland waterfront. After much public outcry, and lack of support from the Auckland Regional Council, the proposal was dropped in favour of the redevelopment of Eden Park.

The redevelopment of Eden Park's Southern and South Western stands are progressing well. The old stands have been demolished and the supporting pillars and beams have been installed. Work is now starting on the first floor of the Southern stand.^[11]

Some consents are still to be approved but the Government has announced it is considering passing a law bypassing the consent process to allow all the stadiums' redevelopment to be completed in time for the Rugby World Cup.^[12]

Draw

Seeding of teams for the 2011 World Cup was based on their respective IRB World Rankings.^[13] The draw was conducted on 1 December 2008 and used the World Rankings as of 30 November 2008, after the Northern Hemisphere Autumn internationals.^[14] The top four at the 2007 Rugby World Cup(South Africa, England, Argentina, and France) were not allocated top pool spots, but "the rankings are now very well established and provide us with a credible and succinct way of seeding teams for the rugby World Cup pool draw," according to Rugby World Cup Ltd (RWCL) chairman Syd Millar.^[13]

The full draw and venues for the tournament were announced on 12 March 2009.^[15]

The opening match will see the hosts, New Zealand, take on Tonga. This will be the first World Cup since 1995 in which the opening match does not involve Argentina.

Pool stage

Pool A

Team	Pld	W	D	L	TF	PF	PA	+/−	BP	Pts
New Zealand	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
France	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Tonga	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Canada	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Japan	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

9 September 2011	New Zealand	v	Tonga	Eden Park, Auckland

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10 September 2011	France	v	Japan	North Harbour Stadium, North Shore City

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14 September 2011	Tonga	v	Canada	Northland Events Centre,Whangarei

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16 September 2011	New Zealand	v	Japan	Waikato Stadium, Hamilton

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18 September 2011	France	v	Canada	McLean Park, Napier

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21 September 2011	Tonga	v	Japan	Northland Events Centre,Whangarei

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24 September 2011	New Zealand	v	France	Eden Park, Auckland

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27 September 2011	Canada	v	Japan	McLean Park, Napier

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1 October 2011	France	v	Tonga	Westpac Stadium, Wellington

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2 October 2011	New Zealand	v	Canada	Westpac Stadium, Wellington

Pool B

Team	Pld	W	D	L	TF	PF	PA	+/−	BP	Pts
Argentina	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
England	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Scotland	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Georgia	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Play Off Winner	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

10 September 2011	Scotland	v	Play Off Winner	Rugby Park, Invercargill

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10 September 2011	Argentina	v	England	AMI Stadium, Christchurch

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14 September 2011	Scotland	v	Georgia	Carisbrook, Dunedin

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17 September 2011	Argentina	v	Play Off Winner	Rugby Park, Invercargill

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18 September 2011	England	v	Georgia	AMI Stadium, Christchurch

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24 September 2011	England	v	Play Off Winner	Carisbrook, Dunedin

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25 September 2011	Argentina	v	Scotland	AMI Stadium, Christchurch

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28 September 2011	Georgia	v	Play Off Winner	Arena Manawatu, Palmerston North

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1 October 2011	England	v	Scotland	Eden Park, Auckland

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2 October 2011	Argentina	v	Georgia	Arena Manawatu, Palmerston North

Pool C

Team	Pld	W	D	L	TF	PF	PA	+/−	BP	Pts
Australia	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Ireland	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Italy	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Russia	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
United States	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

11 September 2011	Australia	v	Italy	AMI Stadium, Christchurch

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11 September 2011	Ireland	v	United States	Yarrow Stadium, New Plymouth

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15 September 2011	Russia	v	United States	Yarrow Stadium, New Plymouth

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17 September 2011	Australia	v	Ireland	Eden Park, Auckland

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20 September 2011	Italy	v	Russia	Trafalgar Park, Nelson

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23 September 2011	Australia	v	United States	Westpac Stadium, Wellington

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25 September 2011	Ireland	v	Russia	Rotorua International Stadium,Rotorua

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27 September 2011	Italy	v	United States	Trafalgar Park, Nelson

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1 October 2011	Australia	v	Russia	AMI Stadium, Christchurch

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2 October 2011	Ireland	v	Italy	Carisbrook, Dunedin

Pool D

Team	Pld	W	D	L	TF	PF	PA	+/−	BP	Pts
South Africa	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Wales	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Fiji	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Samoa	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Namibia	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

10 September 2011	Fiji	v	Namibia	Rotorua International Stadium,Rotorua

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11 September 2011	South Africa	v	Wales	Westpac Stadium, Wellington

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14 September 2011	Samoa	v	Namibia	Rotorua International Stadium,Rotorua

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17 September 2011	South Africa	v	Fiji	Westpac Stadium, Wellington

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18 September 2011	Wales	v	Samoa	Waikato Stadium, Hamilton

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22 September 2011	South Africa	v	Namibia	North Harbour Stadium, North Shore City

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25 September 2011	Fiji	v	Samoa	Eden Park, Auckland

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26 September 2011	Wales	v	Namibia	Yarrow Stadium, New Plymouth

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30 September 2011	South Africa	v	Samoa	North Harbour Stadium, North Shore City

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2 October 2011	Wales	v	Fiji	Waikato Stadium, Hamilton

Knockout stage

	Quarterfinals				Semifinals				Final
	8 October - Westpac Stadium,Wellington
	Winner Pool C
					15 October - Eden Park,Auckland
	Runner-up Pool D
					Winner QF1
	8 October - AMI Stadium,Christchurch
					Winner QF2
	Winner Pool B
									23 October - Eden Park,Auckland
	Runner-up Pool A
									Winner SF1
	9 October - Westpac Stadium,Wellington
									Winner SF2
	Winner Pool D
					16 October - Eden Park,Auckland
	Runner-up Pool C
					Winner QF3				Third place
	9 October - AMI Stadium,Christchurch
					Winner QF4
	Winner Pool A								Loser SF1
	Runner-up Pool B								Loser SF2
									21 October - Eden Park,Auckland