RWC Hosting Venues Announced
by Tracey Nelson
20 Dec 2009
Twenty-three New Zealand centres – 16 in the North Island and seven in the South Island – will host at least one of the 20 participating teams.
There are 20 teams particpating in RWC 2011, four of which have yet to qualify. The teams will be based in 23 centres, ten of which are non-match centres – Bay of Islands, Rodney, Taupo, Tauranga/Mt Maunganui, Gisborne, Wanganui, Masterton, Blenheim, Ashburton and Queenstown.
A range of criteria was applied to assess each option, such as:
- all accommodation options on match days will be no more than 50 minutes drive from the match venue
- all training facilities will be a maximum of 30 minutes drive from team accommodation
- enduring benefits (how much of a catalyst for facility improvement as a result of the allocation of a team)
- cost containment (minimising cost of domestic air travel)
The duration of stay in each centre varies from 2 to 25 nights. Teams will be based at 47 training venues, which inlude 18 rugby clubs and 7 schools. The allocation of accommodation and training venues for the knock-out stage of the tournament will be determined by ballot for the teams that qualify, and will be located in the cities hosting these matches (Wellington and Christchurch for the quarter finals, and Auckland for the semis, Bronze Final and Final).
Centres and the teams they will host are listed below, with the total number of nights a team will stay there in brackets.
Centre | Hosted Teams | |
---|---|---|
BAY OF ISLANDS | Canada (6), Tonga (4), Asia qualifier (3) | |
WHANGEREI | Tonga (10), Canada (3), Asia qualifier (2) | |
RODNEY | Asia qualifier (11), Samoa (5), Namibia (3) | |
NORTHSHORE | France (25), South Africa (4) | |
AUCKLAND | New Zealand (15), Fiji (8), England (7), Ireland (6), Samoa (7), Scotland (5), Tonga (5), Australia (4) | |
HAMILTON | Wales (13), New Zealand (7), Asia qualifier (3), Samoa (2), Fiji (2) | |
TAUPO | South Africa (9), Wales (5), Irealand (4) | |
ROTORUA | Namibia (7), Samoa (6), Irealand (4), Fiji (2), Europe 2 (2) | |
TAURANGA/MT MAUNGANUI | Fiji (9), Samoa (4), Europe 2 (3) | |
GISBORNE | Namibia (12) | |
NAPIER | Canada (15), Asia qualifier (2), France (3) | |
NEW PLYMOUTH | USA (10), Ireland (4), Namibia (4), Wales (3), Europe 2 (3) | |
WANGANUI | USA (6) | |
PALMERTSON NORTH | Argentina (7), Europe 1 (7), Play-off winner (3) | |
MASTERTON | Europe 1 (7) | |
WELLINGTON | South Africa (17), Wales (9), New Zealand (8), Fiji (7), Australia (6), Tonga (6), USA (5), France (3), Canada (3) | |
NELSON | Itlay (21), USA (4), Europe 2 (2) | |
BLENHEIM | Europe 2 (10) | |
CHRISTCHURCH | Argentina (23), England (19), Australia (16), Scotland (11), Italy (7), Europe 2 (6), Europe 1(3) | |
ASHBURTON | Play-off winner (6) | |
DUNEDIN | Europe 1 (11), Play-off winner (8), Ireland (7), Scotland (5), Italy (3), England (3) | |
QUEENSTOWN | Ireland (6), Play-off winner (4), England (3) | |
INVERCARGILL | Play-off winner (7), Scotland (4), Argentina (3) |