2011 Rugby World Cup will be a financial disaster

A concerned rugby group has sent an explosive letter to IRB chairman Bernard Lapasset warning that the 2011 World Cup which will be held in New Zealand could prove to be a disaster for the game globally.

The IRB voted in 2006 to allow New Zealand to host the 2011 Rugby World cup instead of Japan or South Africa. The decision proved to be a highly contentious one, with projections the NZRU is set to lose a staggering $28 million.

In comparison the World Cup in France generated a surplus of more than $280 million which the IRB uses to fund the game globally.

A report entitled Putting Rugby First was released a few months ago calling for revamp of the game and raised a number of their criticisms with IRB boss Lapasset.

The document was commissioned by a group of "concerned rugby supporters" and put together by a leading management consultancy company and a law firm in Britain.

Now co-author Quentin Smith, chairman of English club Sale, has sent a blunt message to Lapasset about the upcoming World Cup and the hosting selection process.

"New Zealand, a 'traditional territory', is already scheduling a loss of $30 million (NZ)," Smith is quoted in the Daily Telegraph.

"Might the scheduled losses for New Zealand in 2011 be considered a 'disaster for that region'? It certainly could be for the game.

"If the event is not a commercial success, raising increased revenue to support developing needs, Olympic ambition and inflation, there's a serious risk of rugby going backwards.

"Publicly reported tension between the IRB and the host nation on, for example, venues, is very worrying. Where would responsibility lie?"

The original Putting Rugby First document argued that the 2011 World Cup should not have been given to New Zealand in the first place.

"Looked at unsentimentally, it is a small country of limited commercial potential - the rugby market in New Zealand is saturated,' the report said.

"The decision is even more surprising when one of the alternative bidders, Japan, offered a much larger economy, (was) of far greater appeal to sponsors as well as (arguably) superior stadia and infrastructure."

The report also pointed out that a RWC in Japan "would have provided a springboard to the fast-growing Asian economies".

Another point which the report makes is for the 2015 Cup to be awarded to a developing nation in order to establish rugby as a truly global sport.

"Does the IRB have a view on the desirability of taking the RWC to a new territory as a means of building the game's global footprint or not? If yes, what concrete steps are in place to bring this about?" Smith asked.

The IRB dismissed the original Putting Rugby First document as deeply flawed.

But in calling for an overhaul of the game's structure, Putting Rugby First described the IRB as "unrepresentative and undemocratic".

"The IRB has known the scale of the challenges and the need for action for several years, yet has not acted decisively," Smith said.

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