Jason Buzz and son Patariki are among dozens of volunteers across Northland stapling RWC posters.
Photo / Myjanne Jensen
Jason Buzz and son Patariki are among dozens of volunteers across Northland stapling RWC posters.
Photo / Myjanne Jensen
Jason Buzz is among dozens of volunteers whipping around roadsides and stapling the Women's Rugby World Cup 2021 signs on fences across Northland as excitement builds for the games in Whangārei.
The tour guide from Taipa is a dead keen rugby follower, having been to four Rugby World Cup matches but this will be his first Women's RWC and he's promoting Northland as a region as a tourism hotspot in his own little way.
The Women's Rugby World Cup 2021 - postponed last year because of Covid-19 - will be hosted in Whangārei and Auckland between October 8 and November 12.
The tournament will feature four double- and triple-header match days at Northland Events Centre throughout October, with the quarter-finals on October 29.
The first three matches will be played at the centre on October 9. The USA plays Italy, Japan plays Canada and Wales plays Scotland.
A RWC2021 sign stapled by volunteers in the Far North.
Photo / Supplied
Australia vs Scotland, USA vs Japan and France vs England will be played on October 15 while Wales vs Australia, Black Ferns vs Scotland and Fiji vs France games will be held on October 22.
The quarter-finals will be a week later.
Women's RWC organisers requested Northlanders to put up signs across the region and Buzz asked for some which he has been putting along State Highway 10 in the Far North.
"The games in Whangārei are cheap to go to so let's get behind it, there'll be a lot of international visitors who'll have a week in between games and they'll book tours, accommodation and spending up here which we really need," he said.
Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for kids.
Born and bred in Waikato, Buzz moved to Taipa in 2015 and his 6-year-old son plays for the Eastern Rugby Club in Taipa where he has put up a Women's RWC sign.
Buzz attended the 1991 Rugby World Cup in the United Kingdom while on his big OE, the 1999 event in the UK as a tour guide, the 2003 tournament in Australia where he was living at the time and the 2011 event in New Zealand.
Super rugby fan Jason Buzz stapling signs in Taipa.
Photo / Myjanne Jensen
RWC organisers are encouraging businesses to adopt a country during the month of October. This could be with theming, flags, special drink or menu items, staff T-shirts and match day activations.
Countries to adopt include New Zealand, Australia, England, France, Canada, USA, Wales, Japan, Scotland, Fiji, Italy and South Africa.
Three World Rugby murals, designed and painted by Northland artists with support from Creative Northland, will be installed in prominent locations around the Town Basin today.
Ruawahia Peata Smith, 9, ready to put up RWC2021 signs around Northland.
Photo / Supplied
The public is invited to the Central Library in Whangārei from September 17 to make their own poi twice a week until the tournament begins.
RWC2021 organisers are not prepared to say how many tickets have been sold so far, citing commercial sensitivity.
"What I can share though is that Northland Events Centre is performing extremely well and is on track to reach (and in some instances surpass) attendance targets across all four match days," a spokeswoman said.
"We're encouraging fans to get in quick to secure their preferred seats and ensure they don't miss out. Within the next three weeks, we'll be making some significant announcements regarding match day entertainment which we're confident will lead to increased demand for tickets."
