Tana's team of 4 million

Champagne flows outside the Rugby Union headquarters. Picture/ Mark Mitchell

Moments before addressing the International Rugby Board, Tana Umaga tossed aside his script and spoke from the heart.

In an emotive pitch, the All Black captain spoke of his pride at being a New Zealander, and his Samoan heritage.

It was time rugby's biggest tournament returned to the game's mecca and its most passionate fans, he said.

In an unsettled world, players, their fans, their families, would be safe and secure here, Umaga said.

Sportsmen would be energised by competing in compact, but full, stadiums. Besides, New Zealand was "a stadium of four million people".

The heartfelt speech played a pivotal role in winning for New Zealand the right to host the 2011 cup.

"When Tana spoke he was just outstanding," NZRFU Chris Moller said afterwards.

Umaga's speech was part of a strategy which pitched rugby values as the asset, shunning single-minded commercialism for sentimentality.

It stymied South Africa's bid in the first round of IRB voting yesterday, and scuttled a furious Japan in the knockout round.

The IRB, New Zealand had remembered, were men.

Men who were steeped in rugby history, who lived, ate and breathed the game.

The Rugby Union asked advertising agency Clemenger BBDO to ensure the IRB knew rugby would grow internationally if New Zealand hosted the cup. It didn't need Japan and Asia alone for that.

Prime Minister Helen Clark ensured New Zealand's bid was credible.

In July, when the Lions visited, she hosted a dinner for the international executive, taking them to Premier House in Wellington for a quiet meal with past All Black captains - Sir Wilson Whineray, Andy Leslie and Jock Hobbs among them.

She chatted in Spanish to the Argentinian delegate. The former players told of their tours, their tests, their memories.

Never before had a Government leader hosted the IRB to such an intimate meal, delegates said afterwards.

And never before yesterday had a current leader turned up at an IRB council meeting to lobby, as Helen Clark did alongside Umaga, Colin Meads and the NZRFU chiefs in Dublin.

Helen Clark, who arrived in Busan, South Korea, for a meeting of the Apec leaders after 13 hours in the air from Dublin, said New Zealand won because it was "the home of rugby".

The Prime Minister said she had heard about the bid while en route and there was "jubilation" in the camp at the positive result.

She said New Zealand had also won because "it was not only the safest bid" but the best bid.

No other bidder was able to go to the meeting and say it had its Government standing fully behind it. "It was amazing" to be part of the bid.

The Government has put its hand in the taxpayers' pockets to secure the cup. It will bankroll the event with $2 for every $1 from the NZRFU, with neither side setting limits, and a Government-NZRFU joint venture company will run the event.

A Treasury worst-case scenario suggests $70 million of public money may be needed over six years.

That will underwrite the secret tournament fee paid to the IRB, an increase in seating at Eden Park to 55,000, and organisational costs.

"There is quite a substantial tax take to Government as well," Helen Clark said, "which is why I don't in any way regret making the offer we have with the Rugby Union.

"We will get repaid in plenty."

It was more than just the money though. Sports Minister Trevor Mallard said the backing of Government agencies - such as Immigration and Customs - had been tested during the Lions tour.

Officials, players and rugby dignitaries had been fast-tracked into and around the country, skipping the usual public queues. The service had worked, and would be extended for the World Cup.

Yesterday, the British media were already questioning the IRB's decision, suggesting the board had missed a golden chance to expand the sport globally and calling for change after claims that delegates had fallen for New Zealand's emotional "last-chance" appeal.

NZRFU chairman Jock Hobbs has not hidden his belief that if New Zealand missed this time, it might never be able to repeat its 1987 hosting of the cup because of the escalating costs of international tournaments.

He said that would have been a tragedy for a country whose passion for rugby could not be matched and whose history in the game was extensive.

After the win, he said he felt "dazed".

"I need some time to soak it all up. I feel very proud to be involved, I feel very proud to be a Kiwi ... that New Zealand's been able to achieve this."

On her way to Korea, Helen Clark was still wearing the Rugby Union suit worn by players and officials.

"It is a beautifully tailored suit and I am proud to wear it," she said.

Asked if she would be wearing it at the Apec leaders' summit, the Prime Minister said: "I am going there now with it on.

"We wouldn't want to miss the opportunity to just make sure that everybody knew that New Zealand had won the Rugby World Cup hosting rights."