Japan adamant NZ won 2011 Cup on sympathy vote

The Japan Rugby Football Union (JRFU) remains convinced New Zealand won the right to host the 2011 World Cup on the back of a sympathy vote.

More than a month after New Zealand beat off the more favoured bids from Japan and South Africa to host the four-yearly tournament, former Prime Minister and president of the JRFU Yoshiro Mori is still questioning whether the result was deserved.

In a rare interview with The Daily Yomiuri newspaper, Mori said New Zealand's controversial loss of sub-hosting rights for the 2003 tournament with Australia played on the minds of International Rugby Board (IRB) delegates.

"I think there was a great deal of sympathy toward New Zealand and that was a big aspect of the voting," Mori said.

"When they lost the right to co-host the 2003 World Cup, the JRFU and the Foreign Ministry asked me to try and mediate as we did not think it was fair if Australia got all the games.

"I think there were many members on the IRB Council who felt sorry for what had happened. I think they wanted to help New Zealand.

"They certainly didn't help us. I just hope they do the same in 2015 should we decide to put in another bid."

Mori was also critical of several aspects of the voting process at Dublin on November 17.

He asked IRB chairman Syd Millar why the vote took place when two of the tender unions (the All Blacks and the Springboks) were playing tests in Europe.

Mori also enquired why there was a secret ballot this time when a show of hands had been used at previous votes.

"It seems those that wanted the game to go global were open about who they voted for but those that wanted to help New Zealand wanted it to stay secret," he said.

"I also enquired about the secret third-party auditor and asked why the representatives of the three tender countries were not there to oversee the counting of the votes.

"It just shows the IRB is an exclusive club. Every country that plays rugby should have a vote, whether it is New Zealand, Botswana, America or Russia."

Mori said there remained widespread disappointment in Japan at missing out on the tournament.

He said the hope was that rugby could benefit in the same way that soccer did from the World Cup co-hosted with South Korea in 2002.

"Twenty years ago their grounds were old, often with uncovered stands. Now they have 20 top-class stadiums, and the professional league has great support from the local communities."

Mori admitted aspects of Japanese rugby needed to improve, such as providing more grass fields, rather than gravel, for children and creating a better relationship between company and university teams.

It was crucial Japan was a stronger force at international level, he added.

"We were hoping to have a team in the expanded Super 14 to give our players more exposure to top-flight rugby but that didn't work out," Mori said.

"We need an international tournament to help with the development of the national team and then changes can filter down from there."

- NZPA