KEY POINTS:
PARIS - Former All Blacks captain Tana Umaga launched an online rugby club here on Friday as part of a drive to get fans from around the world, in what will be a lengthy journey for many of them, to travel to New Zealand for the 2011 Rugby World Cup.
Umaga, now the general manager of French second division side Toulon, announced the creation of the virtual Front Row Rugby Club inside the giant inflatable New Zealand rugby ball near the Eiffel Tower.
Over the next four years the former centre will be delivering a series of messages encouraging fans to go to New Zealand.
"International rugby creates some pretty special friendships," said Umaga, speaking the day before Sunday's 2007 World Cup final between defending champions England and South Africa at Paris' Stade de France.
"We all share a love of the game, no matter what team we support, so this online club is a great opportunity to recognise those bonds and get everyone fired up for the next event."
His comments came just days after rugby-obsessed New Zealand, still smarting after seeing the All Blacks knocked out at the quarter-final stage of this year's World Cup in France, saw a local council election result potentially disrupt plans for the 2011 tournament.
John Banks, the new mayor in the main city of Auckland, said on Monday he would not honour his predecessor's promise of $30 million toward upgrading Eden Park.
The funds were part of a $190 million cash injection required to boost the stadium's capacity to 60,000 - the International Rugby Board's stipulated minimum capacity for a semifinal and final venue.
A key platform of Banks' successful campaign was opposition to Auckland city ratepayers contributing directly to the massive reconstruction programme.
"The Government, with a $2.6 billion cash surplus this year, should fund the interior and the grandstand upgrade," Banks told Radio New Zealand.
He said the Government had previously offered to put up one billion dollars for a new stadium to be built on Auckland's waterfront.
New Zealand had been due to co-host the 2003 World Cup with Australia. But all the matches were played in Australia alone after New Zealand rugby authorities were unable to guarantee the "clean" stadia required by the IRB to satisfy the demands of World Cup, as opposed to domestic, sponsors.
The ongoing World Cup is expected to post some impressive figures for the latest edition of an event which, the IRB maintains, is now the third biggest in global sport behind the Olympic Games and the football World Cup.
However, staging the event in New Zealand, one of rugby union's traditional powers but a country with a relatively small population and a lack of large capacity grounds whose geographical position makes it an expensive destination for many European-based fans, is unlikely to produce similar returns.
But Syd Millar, the chairman of the IRB, said earlier this month: "It's not the only concern. If we go purely on financial returns then there would be very few countries in the world that could host a Rugby World Cup.
"It (the Rugby World Cup) is about exposure to a global sponsorship and global television not just a country," the former Ireland international added.
"Whilst we may not make the same sort of return in New Zealand as we have made here (France), that doesn't mean we can't go to these countries."
- AFP
