Editorial: Thank goodness for rugby visits to the heartland

Opinion

Organisers of the Rugby World Cup for 2011 have made much of New Zealand being one stadium of four million fans during the event. It isn't an original line; America's Cup teams have used the same cliche to stir up national support. And it has worn thin of late, as both the Super 14 and All Blacks failed for much of the season to capture the imagination.

The NZRU's dithering over the fate of mid-sized and smaller unions, ebbing crowds and television audiences and rules which are derided for turning the sport into a kick-and-hope, defend-to-the-death snore don't greatly inspire that fanbase.

So thank goodness for the World Cup organisers staying true to their goal of taking the event to as much of the country as possible. Yesterday's announcement of the cities and towns that will host the 20 competing teams was much more than a guide to accommodation and training facilities in the 23 centres. By moving the sides around rather than basing them predominantly in one place, the cup is revealed as a clutch of simultaneous mini-tours with teams criss-crossing the islands.

Teams will stay in between three and six places in the pool phase of the tournament. Auckland will host eight different teams, Taupo three top sides and Gisborne Namibia alone.

Just two towns keen to take part, Whakatane and Timaru, have missed the cut because of insufficient accommodation.

The success of this cup was always going to depend on tapping the spirit of rugby in our provinces and embracing top international sport with a relatively unsophisticated but warm hospitality. Organisers have invited the world into the Kiwi heartland. We can all play a part in making the event more than the sum of its parts.