Wynne Gray: Kiwi glow eclipses rising sun

When New Zealand last made World Cup headlines in Dublin, they were lampooned for behaving with the "gaiety of gravediggers".

They were described as a sullen mob at the Dublin quarter-final of the 1991 tournament and obituaries were being prepared yesterday about New Zealand's World Cup hosting bid.

However as evening settled in Dublin it brought the glow of success for New Zealand and no rising sun for Japan who had been tipped to host the 2011 World Cup.

Instead International Rugby Board chairman Dr Syd Millar announced New Zealand had beaten Japan's challenge once South Africa had fallen at the first ballot.

New Zealand's shock and embarrassment at having their 2003 sub-hosting rights revoked because they did not fulfil stadium demands, washed away. Jubilation replaced anxiety for the New Zealand officials in Dublin.

The city which scolded the All Blacks' attitude 14 years ago and simmered this year over "speargate" and Brian O'Driscoll, turned talismanic yesterday.

It was another major success in the administrative career of NZRU chairman Jock Hobbs after he led the fight to save rugby from the rebel WRC predators when the sport went professional in 1995.

The first round knockout for South Africa may be connected to a recent leaked report praising their 2011 rugby bid and their appointment to run the soccer World Cup in 2010.

Japan's frustrations continued. They produced the major sponsor, KDD, for the first World Cup in 1987 but could not persuade the IRB that the World Cup should be moved away from traditional rugby powers.

It was a chance lost for the second-tier nation and one which spawned more theories than rugby administrators yesterday in Dublin.

There was talk Canada had changed their mind during the ballots, that South Africa lost traction because of the suspicion they had leaked an interim report to give credence to their work.

Listen to some and the IRB delegates were involved in some version of paper, scissors, rock when they made their choice.

Unless the IRB rescinds its decision to release the voting numbers or until there is another "managed" leak, there has to be conjecture about the result and how it occurred. But some issues are clear.

New Zealand must have secured at least seven votes out of the 19 available votes in the first ballot to stay in the race and then at least 11 votes out of the available 21 in the sudden-death duel with Japan.

The foundation for New Zealand's success was laid down last year when a Bid Office, led by Brian Roche and an advisory committee chaired by corporate lawyer and company director David Gascoigne, looked into the feasibility of bidding for the 2011 World Cup.

They reached the conclusion the tender should be attempted, the Government and Sparc were involved and on May 13 the decision was taken to shoot for the seventh global tournament.

"It was an evolving feeling. We discovered the risk of a financial loss was high and still is," Gascoigne said yesterday. "The process ensures the IRB makes the money and the hosts carry a big chunk of the risk."

The NZRU's project manager for the bid, Nigel Cass was emphatic that the campaign would have failed without Government support.

"That partnership between rugby and the Government was critical," he said from Dublin.

"We were also not shy about asking for help and advice from within New Zealand and offshore. There were a huge range of factors in winning the bid but for me the overriding factor was the Government. We could put the commercial side to bed and concentrate on the other parts."

The subsequent success of the Lions visit, which was witnessed by IRB officials, was a handy curtainraiser to accompany New Zealand's bid.

When all three contenders were deemed capable of being hosts, the next phase of marketing and promotion became critical.

This is where the murky is meshed to the transparent.

Hobbs and his chief executive Chris Moller set off on a global tour of the voting nations to detail their plans and arguments. Smart tactics, making the effort, adding the personal touch well before the IRB vote this week.

Meanwhile the All Blacks' agreement to play tests against Italy late last year, this year against Wales and next year against Argentina and England have been depicted as vote-gathering choices designed to influence an IRB organisation which still operates an old boys' network.

Why else would Colin Meads have gone to Dublin?

Meads is an icon, someone whose status would have impacted on those who had voted for South Africa in the first ballot and then wavered between New Zealand or Japan in the second.

"It was a strong bid from New Zealand," Gascoigne said. "There were not a lot of negatives and any like the size of the stadia or broadcasting timezones could be answered. We worked on a chain of logic and a lot of paper."

Once the financial details were squared away, New Zealand emphasised its safety, tradition, the benefits of holding a tournament in a country infatuated with rugby and its place in the world rugby order.

That tradition was too powerful for the conservative men of the IRB, a senior group who dared not risk sending their global showcase to a new frontier.