IRB satisfied with World Cup work

International Rugby Board officials are confident that preparations for the 2011 Rugby World Cup in New Zealand are on track despite the financial uncertainties arising from the current global economic crisis.

At a special ceremony in Hamilton to mark the two-year point to kick-off in Auckland of the seventh edition of rugby’s showpiece, IRB and Rugby World Cup Limited chief executive Mike Miller declared himself “very happy and very confident” about the progress made since New Zealand was awarded the hosting rights in late 2005.

“We’re very happy with the ways things have gone so far,” he said.

He did acknowledge that the global downturn had made the commercial aspect of getting the tournament up and running more difficult but added: “Rugby World Cup has a great pedigree and major commercial entities want to be involved.

“We have three of our top sponsors in place already in Mastercard, Heineken and Emirates and certainly awarding RWC 2015 to England and 2019 to Japan has given a new impetus so a lot of Japanese companies and companies based in Europe have shown renewed interest in doing two or three cup deals.

“Corporate hospitality we thought was going to be down but pre-bookings from travel agents has actually been very good and now it’s ahead of where we were for France.

“Yes it’s been a bit tough but I think we will get there in the end.”

Miller, IRB chairman Bernard Lapasset, Martin Snedden, the chief executive of Rugby New Zealand 2011 Limited (RNZ 2011) – a joint venture between the New Zealand Rugby Union and New Zealand Government which is responsible for the planning and delivery of the tournament – and RNZ 2011 and NZRU chairman Jock Hobbs were given a tour of Eden Park on Tuesday.

The venue is being upgraded to 60,000 capacity and will host the opening match between New Zealand and Tonga, four pool matches plus the semi-finals, final and bronze medal match in two years’ time.

“We’re very impressed with the work which has gone on,” said Miller. “We had a good walk around and it’s got very good sight lines.

“It will be a very good stadium for watching rugby. There will be good facilities there. It’s six weeks ahead of schedule, it’s on budget, so things are looking good.”

Snedden declared the new-look stadium would be one of the “surprise packages” of the tournament.

“You can’t help but be impressed by what’s being achieved there. It’s six weeks ahead of schedule, it’s on budget and it’s going to look great.”

Upgrades being done elsewhere around the country to stadiums hosting matches were also progressing well with AMI Stadium Christchurch on course to be ready by January, and McLean Park in Napier close to completion.

Whangarei is due to complete in July next year, while Nelson, where work gets underway shortly, is also due to finish in the middle of next year.

The only uncertainty surrounds the construction of a new, covered in stadium in Dunedin, which has yet to get underway.

Carisbrook will host the matches if the new stadium fails to be ready in time.

“We are going to do everything we can to play those games in the new stadium,” said Snedden.

“They are desperately determined to achieve that and I don’t want to get in their way. We want to give them as much flexibility as possible to achieve that.”

Accommodation is also another sticking point, although cruise ships are likely to be used in Christchurch, Wellington and Auckland during the business end of the tournament to help alleviate the problem of a shortage of beds.

During the Lions tour in 2005, many fans travelled the country in campervans and it is expected the same will happen at the World Cup as well.

“It will be a squeeze but we’ll make it happen and I think everyone will get somewhere to stay,” Miller said.

“Obviously it’s tougher than in somewhere like Paris where you’ve got tens of thousands of hotel rooms. But we’re happy with what we’ve got and we think we’ll just about have enough.

“I’m sure there will be innovative solutions and lots of people offering accommodation in different places.”