Rugby: Pacific flavour for World Cup

Tonga perform the Sipitau before their match with England at the 2007 World Cup. Photo / Getty Images

It seemed an odd decision at first but pitting the All Blacks against Tonga in the opening game of the World Cup now makes sense.

Tuesday marks the 18-month countdown to that first match and it will be significant in defining the tournament and promoting the key themes.

The organisers are hoping global audiences will be blown away by the passion and intensity of the respective hakas and that the game will have a distinctly South Pacific flavour.

"We had the choice of positioning France or Tonga in the opening game," says Rugby New Zealand 2011 chief executive Martin Snedden. "Our desire is to have the first game showcase not only New Zealand but the South Pacific.

"If you can imagine rugby viewers waking up in Europe and switching on to that game, it could have a powerful impact. The hakas in particular are a 30-second snapshot that say so much about what this tournament represents. The All Blacks played Tonga in 2003 and it was a great occasion but this time it should have much more impact as the opening game."

As the big day comes nearer, it is apparent the Pacific theme is going to be pushed by the World Cup organisers. Not only will Tonga take centre stage on the opening night but Maori TV have also been confirmed as the lead free-to-air broadcaster.

It's all about delivering an event that is unmistakably New Zealand and representative of its Pacific influences.

Snedden has pushed the need for New Zealand to be aware of the legacy opportunities that are attached to hosting an event the size of the World Cup. His mission is to not only organise a successful tournament but to also help New Zealand capitalise on tourism and business opportunities.

The importance of delivering a tournament-defining opening game has become a key focus. The right tone needs to be set on day one.

It's not just about selling the right image of New Zealand and the South Pacific to global audiences. The quality of rugby has to be a step up from 2007.

The last World Cup provided more drama than expected with Argentina upsetting France in the first game, Fiji beating Wales, and New Zealand and Australia losing in the quarter-finals.

But there wasn't much in the way of spectacle, with too many one-sided pool clashes and semifinals dominated by defences and goal-kickers.

Those who didn't have an emotional investment in the outcome of games were left with little to admire. Tonga were the exception - they played above expectation and combined brutality with flair to good effect.

Snedden has been watching the early rounds of Super 14 with some interest.

"We are keeping an eye on how the new law interpretations are going," he says. "What we want is for the rugby in 2011 to be both competitive and entertaining. Sometimes in France the rugby wasn't of the highest quality.

"The most recent example of how riveting sport can be came last week with the ice-hockey final at the Winter Olympics. That was just gripping and we are all desperate to see rugby that is both competitive and entertaining."

Rugby has endured a difficult two years since the last World Cup. The final was such a dire game and the tournament so heavily dominated by kick and rush, defensive teams that the opportunity was missed to attract new fans.

The botched introduction of the Experimental Law Variations was a further setback and 2009 was the nadir where there was, arguably, just one test - the All Blacks versus France in Marseilles - where two teams attempted to attack for 80 minutes.

Next year's World Cup is rugby's big chance to reinvent itself as a compelling sport where the rules slightly favour the attacking team. That needs to happen to kick-start the sport's popularity longer term but to also help the organisers sell match tickets.

Helping in the latter quest is confirmation that Russia have qualified. Snedden is confident the Russians, who will be playing in their first World Cup, could become everyone's second favourite team.

If they can't overtake Georgia, who are also confirmed as a World Cup starter, in the qualifying group, Russia will be in the same pool as the US. That would result in a "Cold War" epic to be played in New Plymouth.