Rugby world cup 2011
General Facts & History
The first RWC was held in New Zealand and Australia in 1987.
Held every four years, RWC is the third biggest sporting event in the world – from a viewership perspective.
The only countries to both host and win the Rugby World Cup are New Zealand (1987) and South Africa (1995).
In 1987, 16 teams were invited to participate in the inaugural tournament. Which grew to a total of 94 countries taking part in RWC 2007.
The 2011 Rugby World Cup will be the 7th tournament.
The 2011 tournament will consist of 48 matches which will be played over a 6 week period.
9 of these matches will be played at Eden Park in Auckland, including the opening match, both semi-finals and the final on 23 October 2011.
Eden Park in Auckland will host the opening match played on Friday September 9, 2011 when New Zealand will play Tonga.
20 countries will be participating in the tournament. 12 of these teams automatically qualified from RWC 2007 in France. The remaining 8 teams will come through the RWC 2011 qualifier programme which began in April 2008.
The 12 automatic qualifiers are South Africa, England, France, Argentina, Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, Scotland, Italy, Tonga, Wales and Ireland.
An estimated $267 million in direct income to the Auckland region and will be a catalyst for major infrastructure improvements providing long-term benefits for the Auckland community e.g. new facilities upgraded public transport, upgraded CBD and waterfront.
And finally an estimated 4 billion people will watch the tournament worldwide.
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The Bid of RWC 2011
In May 2005, the New Zealand Rugby Union (NZRU) and New Zealand Government announced that New Zealand would lodge a bid to host RWC 2011.
New Zealand's Bid was built around the theme that the Tournament would be hosted in New Zealand's "Stadium of Four Million" and that it would be an "ALL RUGBY" experience for all involved.
New Zealand was granted the rights to host RWC 2011 on November 17, 2005 (November 18 NZ time) in Dublin.