NZ 'better prepared' for 2011

2005-05-11 11:05

Wellington - New Zealand will mount a bid to host the 2011 Rugby World Cup, confident the pitfalls that doomed its 2003 co-hosting role won't be repeated.

The "All Rugby 2011" bid will be jointly funded by the New Zealand government and New Zealand Rugby Union and was launched with much fervour by NZRU chairperson Jock Hobbs here on Tuesday.

New Zealand, which hosted the inaugural tournament in 1987, faces opposition from 1995 hosts South Africa and from Japan, considered by many the favourite because of its financial resources.

The International Rugby Board will announce the venue on November 18.

New Zealand would have been sub-host two years ago but Australia became sole hosts when the NZRU couldn't guarantee the IRB's demands of providing "commercially clean" stadia and sufficient free corporate space.

Hobbs said a feasibility study carried out by a World Cup bid advisory committee comprising NZRU and government figures, confirmed all the IRB's requirements could be met by November.

He said there were still some stadia, such as Wellington's Westpac Stadium, where issues would need to be resolved this year.

"It's all but done," he said.

Small pockets

"There are some small pockets that still need to be dealt with. We're confident of working through those pockets and we have no doubts and have given an undertaking that our stadia will be clean.

"We will deliver on minimum fees and requirements that the IRB has set out, and they're quite considerable."

NZRU chief executive Chris Moller was to fly out Wednesday with 25 copies of the 600-page bid document for Dublin, where they will be presented to the IRB.

Hobbs and Minister for Sport and Recreation, Trevor Mallard, were loath to provide thorough details about the bid and the hosting fee, although it is believed to have climbed considerably since 2003.

The government has pledged to meet two-thirds of all costs associated with hosting the tournament, with the NZRU to cover the other third.

If New Zealand is successful, the government will contribute $20m of an initial $30m injection to begin preparations.

It is unclear what further costs will be required but Mallard confirmed that the Government would contribute towards upgrading Auckland's Eden Park.

The upgrade is a central tenet of the bid if the NZRU was to avoid a financial loss. Ticket sales would be the chief source of revenue for the NZRU but that is restricted by relatively small stadia throughout the country.

It estimated the tournament would attract more than 60,000 visitors, which would add $408 million to GDP and tax revenue of more than $90 million.

"While we may be a small country, we make up for that in many ways. We are a stadium of four million people," said Hobbs.

Hobbs said the impending British and Irish Lions tour would be a crucial test of New Zealand's infrastructure and organisational ability.

- SAPA