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Event Information:
The
Rugby World Cup will be the
seventh Rugby World Cup, a
quadrennial international rugby
union competition inaugurated in
1987. The International Rugby Board
(IRB) selected New Zealand as the
host country in preference to Japan
and South Africa at a meeting in
Dublin on 17 November 2005. The IRB
Council eliminated South Africa in
the first of two rounds of voting.
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. The organisers expect
95,000 visitors from overseas to
travel to New Zealand for the event.
The schedule of games runs over
seven weeks starting on 9 September
. The final will be played on
Sunday 23 October , a date
chosen because it falls on a long
weekend caused by the New Zealand
public holiday of Labour Day
(Monday, 24 October ). The final
is scheduled to be played in
Auckland at Eden Park.
After
speculation that the number of
participating teams would be reduced
to 16, the IRB announced on 30
November 2007 that the
tournament would again feature 20
teams. Twelve teams qualified as a
result of finishing in the top three
in each pool in the 2007 tournament.
The remaining eight berths were
determined by regional qualifying
tournaments. Due to damage to
Stadium Christchurch and many other
facilities in Christchurch caused by
the earthquake on 22 February ,
it was announced on 16 March that
the matches to be played in the city
would be relocated. The two
quarter-finals scheduled would be
moved to Auckland, while the five
group matches will move to other
centres. Despite setbacks,
International Rugby Board Chairman
Bernard Lapasset told news outlet
Around the Rings that the world cup
"will be fantastic because this is
not just Rugby World Cup for the New
Zealand people. It will be the Rugby
World Cup for all countries."
On 10
November 2006, the New Zealand
Government announced plans for
Stadium New Zealand in Auckland. The
proposal was to build the new
stadium seating 70,000 on the
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
was completed during 2010.
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