The quality of the rugby has been fantastic. I would say this has probably been... let's see, the first World Cup I saw in the flesh was in 91 and I would say this must be the most competitive World Cup ever. And the quality of the rugby has been very high as well, much higher than 2007. The teams are really happy, they've really enjoyed their time here, they really enjoyed interacting with the communities, they loved the team welcome ceremonies, which were great, just having a little bit of insight into Maori culture and into one of the spiritual homes of rugby. They've enjoyed their time, so I'm very happy.
Our team [the IRB] has been going very well, and working really hard for a long time, and I think we provided the platform for the players to be able to play at their best, and the fans, both those coming in and New Zealanders, to be able to enjoy it.
One thing we do when we have a final match at a venue is we go to the volunteer centre just to thank them. Tournaments like this don't happen without volunteers, and, actually, one of my favourite parts of the World Cup is going to the volunteer centres because they're so enthusiastic. Everyone - the teams, the fans from abroad - they've said how brilliant the voluteers have been, how helpful. We couldn't do it without them, and it helps lift the tournament to another level. So just going and talking with them, they're always incredibly sad that this is the last match that's there. They get a lot out of volunteering as well, which is great. It's a really nice feeling going there.
What do you think of the suggestions - is this the best-ever World Cup?
Yeah. It's very hard because the tournaments are so different. The French one had a very French feel to it, which was good, and you had the 97 per cent capacity in stadiums, it was also great to see rugby played in parts of France that aren't traditional rugby areas. Here, every area's a traditional rugby area. And they're different. But I do think that each time we're a little bit better at what we do, and so I think we're better again at what we do [this time]. We've also had the closest relationship with Government, both national, local and regional, than we've ever had before, which is really important for making a tournament work like this. If you take it all together, it's certainly exceptional.
Best ever? Probably.
But, you know, if you ask the people who worked on France, they would say, yes, it's very good, but... and the people who worked on Australia as well, which was another great tournament.
It's certainly set the bar very high for England. It's going to be very difficult for England or anyone who follows to have a tournament which has been as successful as this, I think.
Have controversies marred the tournament?
There's always issues that come up in any tournament. There's always things that we can do better, just as players can always improve and everyone can always improve and we always strive to do our best.
But when people look back on the tournament they won't remember those things. What they'll remember is the stadium of four and a half million, six and a half thousand great volunteers, the full stadia, the colourful fans, the great rugby, and the most competitive - I would say, contradict me if you want - the most comptetitive Rugby World Cup ever.
Here we are at the semifinal stage and you couldn't find anyone who could tell me with any certainty who's going to be in the final, never mind who's going to win. That's what people will remember.
It's been a huge boost to the image of New Zealand as well. Financially it's been a huge boost to the country, somewhere between $700 million and $1 billion boost into the economy. The people who come here, the 100,000 visitors, staying for an average of what? Twenty-three nights? It's a long time to be in one place, and a lot of them are going to come back or they're going to talk to their family and friends and say, "It's great you really need to go there."
So on all fronts it's been very successful. And the images of the fans dressed up and different fans hugging each other from different teams. And we still have two weekends of rugby to go - so the story isn't over yet.
Was it worth a drop in revenue to come to New Zealand?
Council took a very considered decision, they knew there would be less money available for distribution to our 117 members, including New Zealand, but... once they were satisfied that the New Zealand union wouldn't be harmed financially - they saw they would be able to carry on - they came here for rugby reasons. They came here because they wanted to have a World Cup in the spiritual home of rugby and we knew there would be less money. Everyone knew there would be less money for distribution. Over the last couple of years we've cut our expenses by 10 per cent to accommodate that, and taken money out of the reserves, in order to keep our investment programme going, particularly in our tier one, two and three unions. The reason this is more competitive is because in the last five or six years we've been putting millions of dollars into the likes of Samoa, Tonga, Fiji, the USA and Canada. We will still continue to do that even though we have less money in this World Cup, but for all the other things that have made this tournament so wonderful, it's definitely been worth coming here.
I think it's good that in this modern era, the council was prepared to take a decision that wasn't just based on, "where can we get the most money?" There are other things that are still important within rugby that we want to hold on to. And part of that is respect for the traditions - while still looking forward and making changes and being as modern as possible. Having respect for the traditions and respect for each other and have respect for the spirit and ethos of the game.
Is it likely a similar decision will be made again?
I think there probably will be similar decisions in the future, and one of the reasons we decided to award two World Cups at the same time was so that we could be a bit more flexible in the decisions that we make.
Ninety-five per cent of our income comes from the Rugby World Cup, and that goes to 117 members. That's what keeps the game growing around the world, so it's important we get income from it. It's also important that we move the World Cup to new places to open up new markets.
If you're only awarding one at a time, the temptation is to be as conservative as possible, take no risks. If you're doing two at a time, you can say, right, one we know is going to be a huge success, a big banker; we'll take a bit of a risk on the next one. It doesn't necessarily mean we'll go to a marketplace which won't produce as much money - you're going to a place like Japan or eventually the USA, Russia, wherever it might be, so still take a risk in that sense.
Whether we come back to New Zealand at some point? Look, I'm sure the World Cup will come back here at some point. It's just that there are so many other countries that want to host now that it will be a while.
How do you rate the semifinal match-ups?
The All Blacks v the Wallabies, I mean, you can't call it. You don't know. They are both excellent teams, one and two in the rankings.
As far as Wales v France, again, either of them could win. Wales have been quite bold in going for youth, and it's paid off. They can play very exciting running rugby, and for the French, we saw the quality of their play against England, particularly in the first half. What they will produce on the day is really the question in that match.
Aren't you getting homesick after two months living out of a suitcase?
Of course you miss your family and your home surroundings, but it's been great being here in New Zealand and everyone's been very friendly and welcoming. I've been here a fair few times, but mostly where the business happens in Wellington and Auckland, so you tend to go there. This has been my first chance to travel around the country and it's a beautiful country. It's great to go around to the different venues and talk to people.
Of course you want to get home, but you don't want the tournament to end either. So you get that sort of split. It's been great fun. We're all looking forward to the semifinals and the finals because no matter what permutation you have, the final's going to be a cracking match as well.
Yeah, it's a business - but we all do it because we love rugby, we think it's a great game, and what could be better than a Rugby World Cup in New Zealand.
All the arrangements have been fine. You know, we're the International Rugby Board. We travel, we have tournaments all over the world. If you look at what's happening in the next 10 years, we have the Rugby World Cup Sevens in Moscow in 2013, you've got the 2015 Rugby World Cup in England, in 2016 you've got the Olympics in Rio, and in 2019 you've got the Rugby World Cup in Japan, there's the Pan-American games, and the Asian games, et cetera, et cetera.
Our families are unfortunately used to not seeing much of us, but we're trying to grow the game globally and you have to be out there in order to grow the game. You have to take major events to new location in order to expose people to the game.
In order to make this work, the organising committee, the host union, the Government and Rugby World Cup, we all have to work together as a team, and it's been a great team.
We're really pleased with the way we've worked together with the relationship with Rugby New Zealand 2011, the New Zealand Rugby Union, the Government at all levels and us, because it's been fantastic. We've had a very, very good relationship. When issues come up, we deal with them in a mature way, we come to a resolution, and there's been huge support for all of us from the Government as well, and it wouldn't have been as successful if we didn't have as close a relationship between all of us.
IRB tournament director Kit McConnell: The New Zealanders have really engaged in this Rugby World Cup, and there are huge numbers of supporters from France, Australia and Wales here for the weekend.
With two weekends to go we really encourage everyone to make the most of them, don't let the last two weekends pass you by. If you've been part of it previously, make sure you're part of it again. If you haven't been part of it up until now for whatever reason, just get out there, there are still tickets available for the first semifinal and the bronze final. It's your chance to see Eden Park in Rugby World Cup mode to be a part of the tournament and a part of history. And if you can't manage to make it out to the stadiums, just make sure you share it with friends and family, get down to the waterfront, get down to a fan zone nearby, just make sure you make the most of the last two weekends. And just finish everyone's personal experience of the Rugby World Cup on a high.
