Union links with Government over 2011 World Cup bid

A joint venture between the New Zealand Rugby Union and the Government has been set up to assess this country's ability to host the 2011 World Cup.

The NZRFU yesterday announced it had established a joint-bid office with the Government agency Sport and Recreation New Zealand to investigate the feasibility of New Zealand playing host, and the requirements for lodging a successful bid.

The bid office was formed last month and is being administered by the accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers.

It is jointly financed by the Government and the NZRFU - with each contributing $750,000.

A committee appointed by the NZRFU and Sparc to manage the bid office is chaired by former International Festival of the Arts executive director David Gascoigne.

The other members of the committee are the NZRFU chief executive Chris Moller, Sparc chairman John Wells, former Prime Minister Jim Bolger, Air New Zealand chairman John Palmer, Westpac Stadium chairman Paul Collins and the former Sydney 2000 Olympic Games bid chief executive and SOCOG board member, Rod McGeoch.

Moller said the joint approach underlined the potential benefits for New Zealand from hosting the four-yearly tournament.

It also recognised that a successful bid would require a co-operative effort involving the Government and the community.

"The benefits that could flow to New Zealand from hosting a Rugby World Cup would be felt across the country and in many different sectors," Moller said.

"As a result, this needs to be a New Zealand rather than a New Zealand rugby effort if we decide to move forward with a bid.

"The profile this could bring to the country would be on a par with the other major programmes of recent years, such as the America's Cup and the Lord of the Rings, and in terms of in-bound tourism, the projected in-bound visitor numbers are very attractive."

New Zealand haven't hosted the World Cup since the inaugural tournament in 1987.

Its efforts to co-host the 2003 event fell apart after the NZRFU failed to confirm hosting requirement details and eventually ceded full hosting rights to Australia.

Earlier this year the NZRFU laid down the required 25,000 ($67,000) deposit to take their bid to the next stage. The other countries to have done the same are Japan and South Africa.

The International Rugby Board will announce the 2011 hosts in November.

Sport and Recreation Minister Trevor Mallard said the Government was supportive of New Zealand hosting the tournament, provided it was possible to produce a compelling bid document for the IRB.

"There is a lot of work to be done to see if we can go up against South Africa and Japan."

- NZPA