Boks based on North Island
12 Mar 2009
The Springboks will play all of their 2011 World Cup pool matches on New Zealand’s North Island, opening their campaign in Wellington.
The Boks face Wales at the Westpac Stadium on Sunday 11 September and stay at the Cake Tin for their following fixture against Fiji (17 September). They then head up to Albany’s North Shore Stadium against an African qualifier five days later, followed by their final pool fixture against the Oceania qualifier – likely to be Samoa on 30 September.
“Being based on the North Island for the entire tournament will be very convenient,” Springbok coach Peter de Villiers said.
“Our players are very familiar with Wellington and Auckland because they play there so often in the Super 14 and Tri-Nations. They are also very familiar with those two cities in terms of training fields, gyms, hotels, leisure activities and other infrastructure. The North Harbour stadium will be new to us but we will make sure that we check it out in advance of the tournament.
With regard to the Springbok’s opposition De Villiers said: “There are no easy World Cup matches as we saw in 2007.
“Wales have improved greatly over the past few years and we can expect them to get even better over the next two seasons, so it is going to be a very tough opening match. Fiji are also going to be difficult opponents as many of their players ply their rugby trade in New Zealand and it will be like a home game for them.
“With an Oceania qualifier still outstanding it is quite likely that we will have Samoa in our Pool again, which will also be a tough one. For the first time in our World Cup participation since 1995 we will play another African team in the Pool phase, which will be challenging.”
There is also a possibility the Boks could return to Wellington for a possible quarter-final as two of these matches feature the pool winners and runner-ups from groups that include the Springboks, Wales, Fiji, Australia, Ireland and Italy.
To allow for a global television audience, some late kick-offs were scheduled for 9pm and 8:30pm (10am and 9:30am South African time). Day matches kicking off from 1pm to 3pm – 2am to 4am South African time – are also forecast.
“It’s been an issue that has vexed us and caused a lot of discussion,” said Martin Snedden, CEO of Rugby New Zealand 2011, of the late kickoffs.
Chief executive of the IRB Mike Miller said he believed New Zealand was the best country to host the World Cup: “this is the spiritual home of rugby”.
“I believe it is the most balanced schedule we have ever come up with. We have reached a fair compromise,” he said.
Click here for the full 2011 World Cup draw
63 Comments
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12 Mar 2009, 14:36 pm
#50 Dust: Maybe.
12 Mar 2009, 14:42 pm
#49 Hier kom groot k..: Will the stadiums only be filled with rugby supporters from other countries coming to see the wc if they get it? Or would Americans go to watch the rugby there if they have the world cup? How interested are Americans in Rugby Union?
12 Mar 2009, 14:58 pm
#52 Puma: The odd Yank may show up, depending on how well the tournament is being marketed. If tons of overseas supporters stream in, it may just get Americans curious. When SA played the US in 2001 in Houston, it was estimated that about half of the 10000 crowd were American (the rest expats enjoying the Castletjies courtesy of SAB).
12 Mar 2009, 15:06 pm
****, I just looked at the draw and it looks like SA may face NZ in the semi’s (if the favorites win their matches). Why does the IRB 1 & 2 rated teams end up knocking each other out in the semi’s? Australia has an almost free ride into the final!
12 Mar 2009, 17:07 pm
pity, would have been good if they were down in christchurch, that area has always seemed very beautiful, nevertheless i will have to make plans for this.
12 Mar 2009, 17:11 pm
North island, south island, it doesn’t matter where in NZ you play, it’s going to be damn difficult
12 Mar 2009, 18:19 pm
#8 Puma:
BAH HUMBUG !!!!
Its a sad day when a true rugby fan like you looks to criticise a Rugby World Cup in the true heartland country of Rugby.
There are only THREE ‘rugby countries’ in the World. 1. NZ, 2. SA and 3. Wales.
Rest assured, there wont be ONE seat in ONE stadium for ONE match that will be vacant. Did you watch the Lions tour 2005 ? Multiply that interest by 1000%
Anyway, who are you to tell us what weather is ‘perfect’ for rugby ? Rugby is a Winter game, last time I looked. You may not know what ‘Winter’ means in Sth Africa, but the rest of us have a pretty fair idea.
12 Mar 2009, 23:21 pm
“this is the spiritual home of rugby”
So what is SA? The freakin dogs breakfast!? huh!
*******…
12 Mar 2009, 23:50 pm
#55 cab: chch will be cold that time of year still. better to have games north island. a QF at the cake tin will be cold too.
chch has beautiful surrounding areas. the whole south island is like that. bloody magnificent. but christchurch as a city is like a trip back in time to the early 80′s.
with the boks playing at north harbour stadium you can bet that every saffa and his dog will be filling up harbour stadium. its gonna be a massive party.
13 Mar 2009, 00:03 am
#43 whatever:
Yeah check SA record against those no hopers,but i think you know the outcome of that dont you.
13 Mar 2009, 00:33 am
Oh pleeeazzzee, who won and who got knocked out?
13 Mar 2009, 13:03 pm
#61 whatever:
Its easy as a NZ fan to answer that question, Whatever, because it refers only to one.
Were a rugby fan to ask that same question of an SA fan, then an easy question suddenly becomes a bit tricker. So many to choose from, so little time.
13 Mar 2009, 14:04 pm
Has anyone rea dabout how ‘Englands’ RWC 2015 bid now includes matches in Scotland, Wales and Ireland ?
And, yet, some in UK choose to criticise a bid from the Spiritual Home of Rugby which includes games in 13 of their own venues.
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