Wales can go far at Rugby World Cup

Former All Black Xavier Rush believes that Wales have the pedigree to go far at the 2011 Rugby World Cup in New Zealand later this year.

The Cardiff Blues number eight insists that Wales are closing in on the major teams and have the ability to cause an upset at this year’s tournament.

“They  have had their hiccups in the past, but I think when Wales are playing at their best, with some of the exciting players that they have got, they can - on their day - compete with anybody,” added Rush.

“They probably (have) a bit of ground to make up if you are being completely honest,” said Rush, “But... they have some good players.”

Rush says that the teams people should fear from the north of the equator at the World Cup are England and France.

“The two teams which really stand out above all teams in the northern hemisphere so far are England and France. They seem to be the teams that are doing the most damage at the minute.”

"I think England looks particularly good at this stage. I hate to say it, sorry! But they do look very good."
Rush joined Cardiff Blues in 2005 and has represented the All Blacks eight times.

Wales open their World Cup campaign against defending champions South Africa in Wellington on 11th September, before taking on Samoa and Fiji.

Earthquake Recovery minister says Christchurch has to be 'realistic' about hosting World Cup games

Earthquake Recovery Minister Gerry Brownlee urged the stricken city to be "realistic" about holding Rugby World Cup matches in September and October after the earthquake caused widespread damage, including to the rugby stadium.

"To lose the Rugby World Cup from Christchurch would be a massive blow," Brownlee said.

"I don't want to see it happen, but we've got to be realistic about the prospect."

Rugby-mad Christchurch is one of the main venues for the seven-week competition, and is slated to hold two quarter-finals on October 8 and 9.

Start of sidebar. Skip to end of sidebar.

End of sidebar. Return to start of sidebar.

But Tuesday's earthquake reduced much of the city centre and some suburbs to ruins. Although AMI Stadium has only minor damage, the pitch has been hit by liquefaction, when soil becomes a quagmire because of the ground's shaking.

Stadium officials also reported serious damage around the venue, which is just two kilometres from the rubble-strewn city centre - where Christchurch's biggest hotel is tottering and in danger of collapse.

On Saturday, engineers said as much as a third of the central district, where office buildings folded like packs of cards and entire streets lost their shop frontages, may be demolished and rebuilt.

Christchurch could lose 2011 Rugby world cup

Christchurch must accept the possibility that damage from this week's devastating earthquake could prevent it hosting Rugby World Cup matches, a senior government minister said.
The only venue in Christchurch capable of hosting matches during the tournament, AMI Stadium, was damaged in last Tuesday's 6.3-magnitude tremor and much of the surrounding city was reduced to rubble.
Earthquake Recovery Minister Gerry Brownlee, whose parliamentary constituency is in Christchurch, on Saturday said he did not want his rugby-mad hometown to miss out on the World Cup but the prospect could not be avoided.
"To lose the Rugby World Cup from Christchurch would be a massive blow," he told TVNZ. "I don't want to see it happen but we've got to be realistic about the prospect."
Brownlee said it was too early to make a decision on Christchurch's participation in the tournament while the city was still dealing with a disaster that has killed least 123 people.
He pointed out the city had recovered well from another major earthquake last September which also caused extensive damage but amazingly resulted in no fatalities.
"Let's not rush too far ahead of things. This place recovered amazingly well after the September 4 earthquake," he said.
The tournament will be the largest event ever staged in New Zealand, and would face major logistical problems if the disaster meant no matches could be staged in the country's second biggest city.
AMI Stadium's operators expect to know by mid-March whether the venue, which is only two kilometres (1.2 miles) from the badly hit downtown area, can be repaired in time for the September-October rugby showcase.
They say it suffered minor structural damage in Tuesday's quake and the playing field was affected by "liquefaction" -- when the force of tremor's shaking turns the ground into a quagmire.

Quake's affect on Rugby World Cup?

Rugby World Cup officials say it's too early to judge what effect an earthquake in Christchurch that killed at least 65 people will have on this year's tournament.
The magnitude 6.3 quake struck at lunchtime Tuesday, causing havoc in the South Island city that is to be one of the World Cup's key venues.
No reports have been received of damage to the city's main stadium, but hotels have been damaged and city infrastructure shattered. The city center is in ruins and roads have been destroyed.
Canterbury Rugby Union chief executive Hamish Riach told Television New Zealand that "Right now it doesn't feel like we could host very much at all."
But Riach said it was too early to be sure because "everyone is in the immediacy of this traumatic event."
New Zealand Prime Minister John Key has described Christchurch as a "scene of utter devastation" and warned that the death toll could rise on what he fears may well be "New Zealand's darkest day." Apart from the dead, officials say at least 100 more people are missing.
Tournament spokesman Mike Jaspers said organizers had contingency plans but could not say when or if they would be implemented. The event runs from Sept. 9 to Oct. 23.
"At this moment it is too early to talk about any implications for the tournament," Jaspers said. "Right now all that has got to take a back seat while Christchurch deals with the aftermath of this tragedy. ... Any assessment must wait while rescue and recovery efforts take priority."
The International Rugby Board said Tuesday its "thoughts and deepest sympathies" were with the people of Christchurch. It added it would be "inappropriate" to comment on the status of infrastructure or operation, and the "focus at this point must be on the emergency response."

Sir Brian Lochore's warm Wairarapa welcome

Rugby World Cup-winning coach Sir Brian Lochore believes that the Wairarapa provides the ideal environment for teams to prepare for RWC 2011...

The Masterton farmer famously brought the All Blacks over the Rimutakas in the lead-up to their final pool game in 1987, and billeted the players with families in the small Wairarapa hamlet of Pirinoa.

Lochore explains his historical decision: “It was something that we conjured up three or four days before and wasn’t planned. I felt we needed to get away from the big cities and just do something a little bit different.”

It’s with this philosophy that Lochore is welcoming the Georgian national team to the region. The team will spend a week in the Wairarapa, despite there being no fixtures in the province. “It is an honour for the people of Wairarapa, particularly the Rugby folk and it is just as important for all of our residents to be able to host a national team. I know that Georgia are not way up at the top end, but they are still here, still representing their country and certainly wanting to do well.”

Lochore believes the Wairarapa is unique. “It offers relaxation, beauty, a true New Zealand environment. A typical New Zealand farming country scene, with some beautiful little towns with plenty of accommodation and it’s so close to Wellington, which is only an hour away. Being close to a city centre in a totally different environment is important.”

The assistant coach of the Georgian team, Ilia Maisuradze, recently met up with Lochore when he visited the Wairarapa. “We talked about the uniqueness of the Wairarapa, the range of outdoor activities such as fishing and hunting and the vineyards. I suggested to him that we are very happy to get 20 local families to host a couple of Georgian team players for an evening for a typical Kiwi meal.”

Lochore hopes that Georgia not only enjoys the experience of RWC 2011, but also the experience of the Wairarapa. “It’s about playing and enjoyment at the very highest level, it’s about being on the other side of the world. The Wairarapa is totally different to anything you are going to find anywhere else in New Zealand and in fact anywhere else in the world for that matter. We are a Rugby crazy country, even underdogs like Georgia are going to be a focal point of our region while they are here. This will be something the team has never ever experienced anywhere else in the world."

Fans find out Monday about Finals Ballots

The third phase of Rugby World Cup 2011 (RWC 2011) ticketing opens on Monday when Rugby fans from around the world will find out if they have been successful in the ballots for tickets to the semi-finals and the Final.

“I know many fans will be nervously awaiting the results of the ballots as these tickets have been highly sought after,” said Martin Snedden, CEO of Tournament Organiser Rugby New Zealand 2011.

The ballots were open to those fans who applied for tickets during the first two phases of RWC 2011 ticketing and who elected to enter into the ballots. Applicants received one entry into each ballot they elected to enter into for each ticket they applied for. Applicants who used a MasterCard® between April 27 and November 21 2010, received double entries. 

There are 15,000 match tickets available in each of the three ballots. Because each offer will consist of an opportunity to purchase two tickets, a total of approximately 7,500 offers will be issued for each match. Applications were received from just over 60,000 fans.

“These tickets are scarce so for those who are successful this is a great opportunity to be ringside at the crunch matches of New Zealand’s biggest ever sports event.”

The road to Rugby World Cup 2011

There will be a new nation competing alongside the game’s traditional heavyweights for the Webb Ellis Cup in New Zealand after Russia successfully qualified for a Rugby World Cup for the first time in their short history as a distinct union.

The Rugby Union of Russia was only established in 1992 following the break-up of the old Soviet Union and just 18 years later, the Bears were celebrating booking a place at RWC 2011 after an historic 21-21 draw with Romania in Sochi on 27 February 2010.

The draw meant Russia were guaranteed a top two finish in the European Nations Cup and one of the region’s two qualification places at RWC 2011. However, it would be another three weeks before they knew they would enter Pool C with Australia, Ireland, Italy and USA, their first opponents at Stadium Taranaki in New Plymouth on 15 September 2011.

“To qualify for the Rugby World Cup is absolutely enormous for us,” said Howard Thomas, the RUR’s Chief Executive. “To get across the line in the European Nations Cup I would say is the hardest route to qualify for Tier Two countries. We have a very competitive league with the likes of Georgia, Romania and Portugal and I’m proud of the players and everyone involved.

“Having said that we know we have to step up enormously. We look at the last World Cup and see how well Georgia did, and obviously Portugal and Romania had their moments and also Namibia. In all the games you play you want to make it a competitive game of rugby. We want to make sure that our defence is up for it, physically we’re up for it and fitness-wise we’re up for it.”

Wing Alexander Gvozdovskiy was the hero for Russia with two tries against Romania. Yury Kushnarev converted one of them and also landed three penalties in the 21-21 stalemate that ensured the qualification.

Realisation dawns for Russia

“For me this is probably the top of my dreams, to play for my country, my national team and to qualify for the World Cup," admitted wing Vasily Artemyev after the team had earned qualification. “It was a very tough emotional task for the players to play a match at such a high level of expectation as we did against Romania, and to be honest after the final whistle went I felt a bit emptied out.

“Then a couple of days after that the achievement that we’d made started to sink in. It’s only now that we’ve started really talking about it as a team that we understand fully what we have achieved with that result.”

From Europe, the Russians were joined by Georgia in qualifying for the finals on the same weekend after they beat Spain 17-9 at the National Stadium in Tbilisi. It was the Lelos’ seventh victory in their previous eight European Nations Cup matches and guaranteed them a third consecutive World Cup appearance.

“Though I am not Georgian, I understand perfectly well how the Georgians must feel now and share with them the excitement any local rugby supporter must experience now that the national team has won its third World Cup ticket in a row and that the word ‘Georgia’ will resound on the international stage once again,” said former Wallaby centre Tim Lane, who has seen been replaced by Richie Dixon as Georgia coach.

“It was our goal to bring Georgia to the Rugby World Cup again and I am really happy that this goal has been achieved. Now our goal as a team is to make a worthy appearance at the finals.”

The final day meeting between Georgia and Russia would not only decide the ENC champion, but also who qualified as Europe 1 and 2 for RWC 2011. Georgia claimed the title after triumphing 36-8 and, in the process, booked their place in Pool B at RWC 2011 with Argentina, England, Scotland and the Play-off Winner.