Say goodbye to the old Lansdowne Road.RWC 2011 Hosted by New Zealand
At a meeting of the International 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 2011 Rugby World Cup final will be played on the weekend of the 22-23 October, 2011. The match will be held at Eden Park, Auckland, New Zealand. This will ensure that the tournament will finish on a long weekend, with Monday 24 October being a public holiday in New Zealand.
The head office of Rugby World Cup 2011 was officially opened in Wellington by Prime Minister Helen Clark. Sports Minister Trevor Mallard said it was "the biggest thing that's ever happened to New Zealand". He said the event would bring an estimated 60,000 overseas visitors to New Zealand and generate $400 million of extra economic activity. About 3.4 billion viewers would watch the games on television.
The International Rugby Board (IRB) announced that the Rugby World Cup 2011 tournament in New Zealand will comprise 20 teams. This mirrors the number of teams that played in the last three tournaments. The decision was taken at a Special Meeting of Council following a recommendation to the Council from the Rugby World Cup Limited Board.
Dr Syd Millar, IRB and RWC Limited Chairman said, “Prior to RWC 2007 the IRB stated that it would review the number of participating teams for future Rugby World Cups. The reason for this review was to ensure that the tournament remains competitive and commercially attractive, that player welfare concerns are addressed and it continues to be the major promotional and financial vehicle for the continued expansion of the Game.”
“The IRB is committed to developing the Game and achieving specific goals within the strategic plan which include increasing the number and competitiveness of Unions at the top level and maximising the profile, profitability and value of Rugby World Cup.”
“The developing nations at Rugby World Cup 2007 have produced significantly enhanced performances since RWC 2003. This is a direct result of the global £30 million IRB strategic investment programme that was established in 2005.”
“Based on this plus the likelihood that surplus revenue from Rugby World Cup 2007 will provide further funds for future investment in developing nations, the Council had no hesitation in approving the recommendation from the RWCL Board that 20 teams participate at the 2011 tournament.”
“The successful New Zealand tender bid for RWC 2011 was based on 20 teams. At the Council meeting the motion maintaining the existing 20 team format was proposed by New Zealand Council member Graham Mourie. The IRB is very confident that the tournament will be a huge success,” added Dr Millar.
The NZ Government has also announced that the school holidays following the third term in 2011 will be delayed by two weeks for all students in NZ to coincide with the final two weeks of RWC 2011.
The Rugby World Cup 2011 Pool Allocation Draw took place inside a very unique venue, Tourism New Zealand’s ‘Giant Rugby Ball’ facility in the heart of London on December 1st, 2008. Members of the Maori community were on hand to welcome Bernard Lapasset, Chairman, Rugby World Cup Limited, and Jock Hobbs, Chairman, Rugby New Zealand 2011, into "the Ball" for the Draw.
For the first time the IRB World Rankings as of 30 November 2008 were used to seed the 12 qualified teams for RWC 2011. As in 2007, there will be four pools of five teams in RWC 2011. The top three positions, or bands, in each pool will be filled by the 12 pre-qualified teams from the last RWC. The 12 pre-qualified teams are: Argentina, Australia, England, Fiji, France, Ireland, Italy, New Zealand, Scotland, South Africa, Tonga and Wales.
From these 12 teams, the top four in the IRB World Rankings on 1 December 2008 were allocated to band one - or the top line in each pool - and drawn randomly into the pools. The next four teams were allocated into band two with the remaining four teams allocated into band three.
Banding of 12 automatic qualified teams:
Band 1: Top four ranked qualified teams (1 to 4 in IRB World Rankings)
Band 2: Next four ranked qualified teams (5 to 8 in IRB World Rankings)
Band 3: Bottom four ranked qualified teams (according to World Rankings)
This ensured that teams ranked in the top four of the IRB World Rankings on 1 December 2008 were not drawn in the same RWC 2011 pool.
The remaining eight available qualifying places still available for the tournament - Americas 1, Americas 2, Asia 1, Africa 1, Europe 1, Europe 2, Oceania 1 and Final Playoff Place - were divided between the four pools.
2011 Rugby World Cup draw:
| Pool A | Pool B | Pool C | Pool D | |||||||
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New Zealand |  |
Argentina |  |
Australia |  |
South Africa | |||
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France |  |
England |  |
Ireland |  |
Wales | |||
 |
Tonga |  |
Scotland |  |
Italy |  |
Fiji | |||
| Americas 1 | Europe 1 | Europe 2 | Oceania 1 | |||||||
| Asia 1 | Play-off winner | Americas 2 | Africa 1 |
While a range of venues will be used for RWC 2011, RNZ 2011 has currently only confirmed the venues for the quarter-finals, semi-finals, Bronze Final and Final. RNZ 2011 is working with Regions across New Zealand to confirm the other match venues for the 40 pool matches. These will be confirmed in March or April 2009.
The RWC 2011 Final, Bronze Final and semi-finals will be played at a redeveloped Eden Park in Auckland. Modern new stands will be the most apparent aspect, less obvious will be the pedestrian flow to and from the stadium.
The key features are:
- A new three-tier South Stand with 52 corporate boxes;
- A new, unroofed two-tier East Stand (replacing the eastern terraces);
- Extension of the ASB Stand with a 200 seat lower bowl (replacing the Panasonic Stand);
- Internalisation of pedestrian movement, within the Eden Park site. Public concourses in the east and west connecting all stands with transport centre and providing access to Kingsland railway station via Walters Road;
- A transport hub in the south west of the Park with bus parks for drop off and pick up;
- Increased landscaping around the Park perimeter;
- 10,000 high quality demountable seats above the East and West stands to bring capacity up to 60,000 for RWC 2011.
The four RWC 2011 quarter-finals will be hosted in Christchurch and Wellington with two to be held at Stadium Christchurch and two at the Wellington Regional Stadium.
The demolition of Eden Park's south and southwest stands is scheduled to begin August 2009.
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Artists impression of redeveloped Eden Park - venue of the 2011 World Cup Final |
Rugby World Cup Limited (RWCL) has announced that Gilbert has been awarded the contract to supply balls to Rugby World Cup 2011 and Rugby World Cup 2015.
A world leader in match ball innovation and development in international Rugby for more than a century, the UK-based firm will supply the match, training and replica balls for Rugby's global showcase event.
"Gilbert is a brand that is synonymous with Rugby World Cup, having supplied balls for the tournament since 1995, and RWCL is delighted to be extending the relationship with a partner that has proven to be both a strong supporter of the tournament and the world leader in Rugby ball performance," said RWCL Chairman Bernard Lapasset.
RWC 2011 knockout structure
Following the RWC 2011 pool matches, the knockout rounds will follow the same structure as RWC 2003 and RWC 2007. The full structure is as follows:
Quarter Final 1: Winner Pool B v Runner-up Pool A
Quarter Final 2: Winner Pool C v Runner-up Pool D
Quarter Final 3: Winner Pool A v Runner-up Pool B
Quarter Final 4: Winner Pool D v Runner-up Pool C
Semi-Final 1: Winner QF1 v Winner QF2
Semi-Final 2: Winner QF3 v Winner QF4
Bronze Final: Loser SF1 v Loser SF2
Final: Winner SF1 v Winner SF2