The 2011 Rugby World Cup

[James]

As good as it may be rugby wise, the NZ Rugby Union / Government / Councils, etc are going to make a complete mess out of hosting the world cup.

What McBeth says here is almost certain to still be happening come 2011.

It would be better for the world game to send the World Cup back to Australia. Going from France this year to NZ in 2011 is going to be such a step down in pretty much every way.

Agree/Disagree?

 

[BlackCap_Fan]

I think we should do a joint hosting with Aussie and NZ.

 

[vic_orthdox]

Get over your inferiority complex, NZ! Four years is eons away. For every big event, there is always a few people who are "worried" about how the country will go, and doubts float around. The passion for rugby over the Tasman means that it'll all sort itself out in the end, because the people care too much to let it be a disappointment.

 

[ohtani's jacket]

Disagree.

We did a fine job of hosting the America's Cup and we made the Rugby World Cup a success in the first place.

And who wants to change Eden Park anyway. We're unbeatable there.

 

[Fiery]

We'll be fine. Wanted the Waterfront stadium though

 

[BoyBrumby]

Should've gone to Japan in the first place. Made a bang-up job of the football in 2002, so would clearly have the infrastructure in place already to cope & it would've given the sport a similar shot the arm over there to the one football received.

 

[KennyD]

Agree^

 

[chaminda_00]

Yeah Japan should be hosting the next World Cup, pretty poor decision not to give it to them in the first place. Im sure they would have done a lot better job then what the Kiwis are likely to do. Not that i think its going to be a poor World Cup. They will probably get their act together by 2011. It just would have been a lot more beneficial to World Rugby if a couple non super powers hosted the World Cup.

 

[Magrat Garlick]

Should've gone to Japan in the first place. Made a bang-up job of the football in 2002, so would clearly have the infrastructure in place already to cope & it would've given the sport a similar shot the arm over there to the one football received.

Isn't this rather like giving a cricket World Cup to the US?

 

[BoyBrumby]

Isn't this rather like giving a cricket World Cup to the US?

No, a better analogy would perhaps be giving the US the football WC. Japan aren't much good as a team, but the sport has always had a pretty decent minority following in terms of participation at least (the IRB site says 125,000 players spread over 4000+ clubs, Linky), rather like saw-ker in t'states. In fact I'd actually guess that before the J-League was founded it was a bigger sport than football.

The IRB is even more self-serving than the ICC &, frankly, it's something of a miracle the sport has spread beyond the Commonwealth. The rumours after NZ was awarded 2011 were that Ireland had supported their bid in return for some reciprocal piece of nepotism down the line.

 

[Magrat Garlick]

No, a better analogy would perhaps be giving the US the football WC. Japan aren't much good as a team, but the sport has always had a pretty decent minority following in terms of participation at least (the IRB site says 125,000 players spread over 4000+ clubs, Linky), rather like saw-ker in t'states. In fact I'd actually guess that before the J-League was founded it was a bigger sport than football.

Aha. No professional league for rugby union (I hate that you can't say "a rugby league") yet, then?

It's a bit simpler, I guess that's why it spreads. Stick some poles in the ground and get yourselves an egg.

 

[BoyBrumby]

Aha. No professional league for rugby union (I hate that you can't say "a rugby league") yet, then?

It's a bit simpler, I guess that's why it spreads. Stick some poles in the ground and get yourselves an egg.

There is a pro league of sorts (it's a bit like FC cricket in Pakistan with some companies having their own teams) but they're a little stymied because of their lack of international exposure. The quality of Rugby wouldn't be enough to justify a Super 14 team on merit, but given the potential of the market I think it's short-sighted to ignore them.

I think it must actually be fairly well renumerated too as some big-ish names have played over there, presumably not to further their careers: Leon MacDonald (current AB), Jaco van der Westhuysen (current Springbok, although omitted from their WC squad), Jamie Joseph (ex-AB who actually played for Japan in the 1999 WC before the international qualification regs were tightened) & Simon Kasprowicz (ex NSW Waratah &, yes, brother of Michael) off the top of my head.

 

[chaminda_00]

Nathan Grey and Willie O both played over that way as well. There also been a fair few fringe Super 14 players that have tired their luck over there at times.

 

[ohtani's jacket]

Having lived in Japan for the last 15 months, I have some doubts over whether Japan could host a Rugby World Cup.

 

[BoyBrumby]

Having lived in Japan for the last 15 months, I have some doubts over whether Japan could host a Rugby World Cup.

Really? Can't pretend I've ever been over there, but the football WC (which, on the face of it seems a far bigger undertaking) went swimmingly.

 

[ohtani's jacket]

Really? Can't pretend I've ever been over there, but the football WC (which, on the face of it seems a far bigger undertaking) went swimmingly.

The Rugby World Cup would be a bigger undertaking... Rugby's played in private universities & highschools, as well as the corporate league, but has almost no following and the stadiums are small. It's a minor sport, whereas football is beginning to overtake baseball in Japan -- something that began happening prior to Japan hosting the World Cup.

 

[BoyBrumby]

The Rugby World Cup would be a bigger undertaking... Rugby's played in private universities & highschools, as well as the corporate league, but has almost no following and the stadiums are small. It's a minor sport, whereas football is beginning to overtake baseball in Japan -- something that began happening prior to Japan hosting the World Cup.

Hmmm. Well as problems go I'd say the absence of specialist stadia is one that should come with a "non-" prefix.

If a stadium can hold a football game it can hold a Rugby one too; if the awarding of world cups only to countries that used quote-unquote specialist stadia than the USA or South Africa would never have been given the football version.

As for the growth of football, it's a little "chicken and egg", isn't it? There's an argument to be made that the sport increased in popularity in Japan precisely because of the founding of the J-League, which I'm fairly sure was a condition of them being given the football world cup in the first place. Obviously I can't be sure, but I think Rugby stands a pretty good chance of getting a similar boost if they were to host the WC.

I'd like to say that I don't think NZ will make a bad job of hosting the tournament at all, but that the awarding of it to you blokes is typical of the self-interest that seems to pervade all sports. I'd have said the same if we were awarded it ahead of them too. I just hope the IRB grasps the nettle in 2015.

 

[Fiery]

Hmmm. Well as problems go I'd say the absence of specialist stadia is one that should come with a "non-" prefix.

If a stadium can hold a football game it can hold a Rugby one too; if the awarding of world cups only to countries that used quote-unquote specialist stadia than the USA or South Africa would never have been given the football version.

As for the growth of football, it's a little "chicken and egg", isn't it? There's an argument to be made that the sport increased in popularity in Japan precisely because of the founding of the J-League, which I'm fairly sure was a condition of them being given the football world cup in the first place. Obviously I can't be sure, but I think Rugby stands a pretty good chance of getting a similar boost if they were to host the WC.

I'd like to say that I don't think NZ will make a bad job of hosting the tournament at all, but that the awarding of it to you blokes is typical of the self-interest that seems to pervade all sports. I'd have said the same if we were awarded it ahead of them too. I just hope the IRB grasps the nettle in 2015.

Great thoughts Brumbers.

Don't worry mate, we'll do a bang-up job of hosting it

 

[ohtani's jacket]

The IRB is an old boys network and that's why NZ got the Cup. I wanted it to go to Japan originally, but unless the media get behind the Japan team and the "prestige" of hosting the tournament, it would be hard to fill stadiums of any kind. The Japanese media are MORE than capable of doing hype, but like any country there's a lot of minor sports that fly under the radar even if there's a national side competing. Japan's rugby team get some coverage on TV and in the papers, but there's not much hype for the Rugby World Cup, which is a bad sign for their future bid, IMO. Remember it was Japan qualifying for the 1998 Football World Cup that began the soccer boom in earnest in Japan.

Apparently Japan has the world's fourth largest rugby playing population, but rugby isn't shown on terrestrial TV channels except for a few tournament finals, and I don't think it will grow in Japan unless the Japanese win a game at the Rugby World Cup.

 

[chaminda_00]

Japan didn't win a game at the Football WC Finals until 2002, when they hosted it. The J-League got empty crowds until they won the bid for Football WC and the media hyped Football to the max. Really until Japan won the the rights to the World Cup in Football, it was just your average minor sport compared to Baseball and got little media coverage and very small crowds to domestic games.