Editorial: Encouraging signs as rugby festival nears

Photo / Sarah Ivey

With 500 days to go until the Rugby World Cup there are increasingly good signs that New Zealand has its collective act together.

This week's launch of ticket sales, a milestone in any major event, went without serious problems.

There were glitches online through high demand but many fans keen to purchase packages of games for particular teams or venues have already effectively taken their seats at the tournament.

Organisers have negotiated the most perilous issue for a low-wage country like ours - ticket prices - with some considerable skill.

Setting internationally achievable prices while still tempting home rugby fans to fill the stands was a figurative high ball which the event team took cleanly.

Prices range widely and few, with 18 months preparation, will be unable to afford the most basic offering at one game or other.

New Zealanders have accepted more serenely than might have been expected that the semifinals and final will carry ticket prices beyond anything seen here before.

While fans are encouraged to apply early, the process does not seem hasty; more access points beckon.

This week's applications for tickets were for packs for multiple games. Bids for individual matches open in August and balloting for the three biggest games will take place before the end of the year.

Earlier, the allocation of teams to venues around the country struck a balance and won community support where it might, handled with less care, have been divisive.

Silly controversy over an advertising song dissipated rapidly. Rugby New Zealand 2011's chief executive, Martin Snedden, seems to have low-keyed his way through these issues with a rare skill of anticipation.

There is encouraging news, too, on the progress of World Cup facilities. Eden Park's development chief wrote confidently on these pages this week that the stadium would be world class and a revelation for rugby fans and audiences of broader entertainment.

That is probably no more than the taxpayer and the ratepayer, now up for a further $40 million to underwrite completion, should expect. No one is promising the bills have stopped coming, either.

Yet the global experience of major event cost blowouts means the public comes to expect the worst. The Christchurch stadium is complete.

Dunedin's new park replacing Carisbrook seems to be the only laggard; an opening ceremony just before the opening whistle is a possibility.

Off the field, resolution of the debate over Queens Wharf facilities for Party Central has been pragmatic, as was the unwieldy deal over free-to-air television rights which will see some games on five channels simultaneously.

The new motorway bridge crossing the Manukau Harbour on the way to the airport will open well ahead of schedule.

Many broader challenges lie ahead as we prepare for an event surpassing the 1990 Commonwealth Games and the Apec summit of 1999.

Security, accommodation, service, visitor appeal, transport, the quality of rugby and the All Blacks performance, will affect the Cup's atmosphere and success.

Some can be improved by throwing money at them. Some will require a willingness to improve attitudes and the aesthetics of our cities. Now is the time to start addressing the intangibles.

We could begin with a plan to improve abandoned eyesores in downtown Auckland, such as the multi-storey disgrace opposite the Stamford Plaza hotel in Albert St.

Or by identifying and correcting failings in service, like the ongoing example at Auckland Airport's agriculture x-ray machines, highlighted by a letter writer on this page this morning.

It would be nice if the World Cup leaves, as part of its heritage, not just bridges, grandstands and financial hangovers but better services and experiences for Kiwis and tourists.