Australia wins RWC 2003 hosting rights!

[Marcus]

<table cellspacing=0 cellpadding=1 width=440 border=0> <tbody> <tr> <td valign=bottom><a target=_top> IRB award sole RWC 2003 hosting rights to Australia</a></td> <td valign=bottom align=middle>18/04/02</td></tr></tbody></table> <table cellspacing=0 cellpadding=1 width=440 border=0> <tbody> <tr> <td valign=top> After months of political wranglings and boardroom bust-ups, the International Rugby Board (IRB) have finally announced that Australia have been awarded sole hosting rights to the 2003 Rugby World Cup, leaving orginal co-hosts New Zealand out in the cold. <table bordercolor=#ffffff cellspacing=0 cellpadding=1 width=120 align=right border=1> <tbody> <tr> <td>

</td></tr> <tr> <td align=middle>My precious: Australia host the RWC 2003</td></tr> <tr> <td bgcolor=#ffffff>

</td></tr></tbody></table> In a statement the IRB said: "The Council of the International Rugby Board (IRB) has today ratified recommendations from the Board of Rugby World Cup Limited (RWCL) that the finals of Rugby World Cup 2003 should be staged in Australia alone. The recommendation from the Board of RWCL followed the refusal earlier this year by the New Zealand Rugby Football Union (NZRU) to accept the terms of the offer to host part of the Tournament. RWCL subsequently requested and received an alternative bid for sole Host Union status from the Australian Rugby Union (ARU). Throughout its deliberations, the Council has been acutely aware of the implications for rugby wherever it is played and remains sensitive to the impact of this decision upon the game in New Zealand, but it was left with no alternative. Generous accommodations made by RWCL to meet the needs and problems of the NZRU were repaid with consistent failures and wholly inappropriate behaviour. Despite this, the Council determined to give full and fair hearing to New Zealand’s position and to its most recent submissions. However, the outstanding Australian proposal held an attraction, a professionalism and a logic which were irresistible. The success and profile of Rugby World Cup are fundamental to the work of the IRB and in particular to its programmes of rugby development around the world. Today’s decision brings both finality and certainty to the process, and will enable Rugby World Cup 2003 to achieve its goals. There is little doubt that relationships have been damaged as a result of these unhappy events. The IRB now holds out the hope that all parties will accept the final outcome with dignity, and that the truly international spirit which cements the sport will quickly heal any wounds."</td></tr></tbody></table>
------------------------ Finally a decision has been made. Now lets make this the best world cup ever.

 

[ozbash]

yes, as i write queues are forming outside aussie radio stations for the statutary handout of freebie tickets.
quantas are vacuming out their spare planes for the expected $50 (return ) airfares across the tassie.
rent a crowd have been called for a quote to attend oz stadium for the final.oz will be knocked out in the semis and nobody will go to any more games.

yes, its going to be interesting.

 

[imported_Te Kaha]

Money won the day. The ARU is continuing its trend of buying as apposed to developing. They buy players, they nowbuy the world cup.

As the saying goes. "Money talks, Bullshit walks"

 

[Cronulla_Mania]

Im an Aussie, but im 110% against the ARU here. If memory serves, it was the NZRU who bailed out the ARU 20-30 yrs ago when they were gone for all money and couldn't find the funds to partake in a tour. At that low ebb, it was the kiwis who helped them out.

Nowwww, the NZRU had some initial difficulties in fulfilling the agreement with the IRB. From MY understanding, the NZRU eventually complied with the agreement, but the ARU had already gone behind their backs and gone for the sole-running of the event. John O'Neill said it wasn't retribution for the s12 extra team debacle. BULLSHIT. This guy has always been a snivelling arsehole. He will gladly take pot shots at any one, usually behind their backs. His snide remarks about the Raiders last year and 'backdoor' plans to 'destablise league' using any means possible has left me and many others with a sour taste in our collective mouths.

This guy helped to run the State Bank into the ground a few years back. He has another disaster on his hands. Sure, the TV earnings will be huge and the ARU will profit from the event. But it will all be tourist dollars. The game in Australia is primarily played in a small avenue between Brisbane and Canberra. Even in these areas, the game is not number 1. A huge STATE TEAM such as the Reds have struggled to get over 16,000 to their games this year.

So, the ARU tell us, the whole nation will be interested in this event. Well, i somehow can't agree with that. The colonial stadium and Gabba lions matches last year were LARGELY made up of touring poms and local expats. The games that the Springboks have played in Perth in the past few years have been largely made up of tourists, and a huge local African and British influence on the city. Even in the provincial centres. Gosford and Townsville, both of their games last year on the lions tour had a huge number of poms in the crowd. Take them out and honestly, both attendances would've struggled to crack 10,000. From memory, the Gosford game attracted 18k and the Townsville one 21k (with the huge pommie following)

And let me also ask, how many kiwis are going to be willing to head across the creek now and support a rival federation that took the WC away from them?? I think it will turn a lot of them off. Just this morning, ZinZan Brooke was talking about pulling the Kiwis out of the Bledisloe AND WC next year. Kiwis will not be happy, and i think with some justification.

So taking them out of the equation, if a game does not involve Australia, England or South Africa, where will the crowds come from?? Japanese tourists?? Im still unconvinced of the popularity of the game up there. Sure the money is big, but its a corporate sport, not necessarily a popular one (similar to Australia, as Mat Rogers noted last week - its a corporate sport). Australia has to host 48 games, and it looks like they will be using a wide variety of locations. But also big stadiums as well. So when Spain rock up against Scotland at say, Colonial stadium next year, how many turnstiles do we expect to tick over?? I do remember hearing that the TV ratings in Melb for the Bledisloe last year were shocking. Sure, league only has a limited following in Mexico, but unions popularity is a big untested blackhole.

I can still see the NZRU kicking up more of a stink over this. NZ union fans will be dirty on this one. What will the ramifications be? If O'neill thinks he can just shut his eyes and hope it will all go away than he will be sadly proven wrong.

Moffo.

 

This message has been deleted by the manager or assistant manager.

 

[pepe]

there goes any chance of the all blacks taking out the 2003 worldcup,just to eliminate any remote chance they had lets send there pool group to townsville or alice springs to finish them off for good.

 

[Kiwi]

The ARU are a bunch of tossers, people like marcus make me sick. League fans getting behind the ARU in anything makes me sick. These guys have tried everything, and will continue to try anything to disrupt and run league into the ground. Then to hear a league fan blame NZRU solely for what happened is a joke, knowing all to well what the John O'Neil lead ARU like to do to everyone else. Now i'm not saying the NZRU don't carry any blame, but no one in their right mind, can honestly say that the ARU wouldn't have been looking for ways to shaft NZ from the out set, NZ were just used to garuntee the world cup came down under, it was only ever a matter of time before the ARU did the dirty, it was always a matter of when and how, not if and why. I for one, will not be going to any world cup matches like i planned to, and alot of NZ'ers wont now either. People may say so what, but surely the ARU can be considered stupid to alienate and piss off 3.5 - 4 million mad rugby supporters just a stones throw away, and another 500,000 odd thousand in the country, the fact is NZ would have been one of the biggest supporter bases attendance wise from a non australian point of view, not any more, the ARU have thrown away millions.

 

[ex-manager]

"I can still see the NZRU kicking up more of a stink over this. NZ union fans will be dirty on this one. What will the ramifications be?"

The NZRU merging with the NZRL? Maybe not. But it must be worrying for some ruggery buggery nationsto watchthe Aussies and Poms virtually buying everything in sight.

 

[Ozbash2]

Well, the meetings to determine the Rugby World Cup are over bar the
fighting.

We were lucky enough to receive a photo of this rather intense
discussion happening right now.

here is an inside look into how this Trans Tasman meeting is
going...

 

[Cronulla_Mania]

While im at it, where does pollies like Bob Carr and Joe Hockey get off proclaiming the greatness of the world cup. Excuse me, these people are politicians and not sports officals. Bob Carr wouldn't know a football if it was lodged up his arse. He is a 'souths fan' right?? Yeh, good on him, im sure he takes his beanie out to every game and sits on the hill with a f**ked up meat pie in one hand and a beer in the other.

When did the pollies come out and proclaim how much money the NRL grand final brings into the city?? Huh?? Or the S.O.O??? No, it doesnt' happen. And now carr wants to bring in volunteers. Take your hand off itjust for a second bob, some games will have more dogs in the crowd than fans.

As far as im concerned, sport and politics do not mix. All it is is a shabby attempt from Bob Carr to win some votes from the traditional liberal/northshore rugby union hangouts. You s**t. While your at it, why don't u give AFL a free plug as well. Come on Bob, up the Swanies, up there cazaly.......sing along u whore.

Moffo.

 

[imported_Hazy]

Ha ha ha, nice photo Ali.....

Moff, I know you are a passionate leaguie but surely you realise that stadiums (and politicians for that matter) have to be 'available' for everybody.

As for the Two Blues - they're in the NSWRU premier rugby comp that is running after the S12 season, arent they?

If im reading the signs right, id say what is atm being advertised asthe 'Sydney' premier rugby comp will be going 'national' shortly after the RUWC.

 

[Marcus]

I have no idea why people are blaming the ARU. For a start, what did they do wrong?

If kiwis want to blame someone, then look no further to their own union. The NZRU have been playing the kiwi public from day one. They were harping about how they are "responsible union" and that they were "looking after the future of NZ rugby". But this not true, if it was then they would have signed the agreement on March 8th. The NZRU are an incompetent bunch, and the sooner they go the better for NZ rugby.

Last year, the papers read that NZ was going to pull out of the RWC hosting agreement. Why? Because they felt that they were going to make a loss in the millions. So they ended up sounding the call to the ARU. The ARU evaluated the matter and decided that they would give NZRU $10mill of their money to offset any losses. Both agreed and everything was back on track. In the later months of 2001 the ARU signed the host agreement leaving only NZ to do the same.

Come March, the NZRU continued to stall on signing the sub-host agreement so they were granted an extension by the RWC Ltd. Come the deadline they signed the agreement but added their own conditions to the contract. When the RWC Ltd saw this, the whole hosting agreement was scrapped, and they were left with the embarrassing situation of cancelling the launch of the wc at Sydney's Taronga Zoo.

Now this meant that the door was open for a bidder. The ARU made it clear to everyone that they were going to put together a proposal to solely host the wc. Because the NZRU could not meet the clean stadia issue it was then up to Australia to prevent to cup going to France (as was proposed).

In these last couple of weeks the ARU's proposal was looking good with the RWC Ltd board. The NZRU on the other hand was doing its best to try and get reinstated as sub-hosts. For that to happen they need votes from the IRB council. So the NZRU tried to garner up support from France and England and even offered to play tests against them to secure some votes. The NZRU even got their government involved to try and lobby for support.

A couple of days ago the IRB were going to announce their decision but delayed a day because the NZRU threatened legal action against them. So yesterday the result came back and Australia won the rights.

The kiwi public should be chopping off the heads of their NZRU leaders - Rutherford and McCaw. They are a bunch dimwits who have to take the majority of the blame. They are incompetent and a bunch of crooks who conned the kiwi public it to thinking they were a "responsible union". The truth is they are not, and they should be ashamed of themselves. They have seriously let the NZ public down, and they must immediately resign from their posts. When they lost to France in 99', what happened? People in the leadership positions were given the flick. The coach was sacked and the captained was dropped. The same thing needs to happen in the NZRU. The boys in the leadership positions need to go.

Now the kiwis may point to the S14 as were it all started by I don't neccessarily share that view. Like I said your NZRU are an incompetent bunch. An article by NZ rugby commentator Keith Quin, said that he thought the NZRU was not really serious about staging such a world event. He said (I couldn't believe this!) that the NZRU had ONE staff member last year working on the NZ preparation of the wc, and that person was only in a PART-TIME position. He went to say, compare that to the ARU which have 8 full-time people working on the Australian preparation. Add to that the ARU started to work on the wc preparation when they first knew they would be a part of it in 98'. Who knows when the NZRU started.

The lack of professionalism shown on the part of the NZRU has a alot to be desired. The kiwis still struggle with this and they need to change now for their own good.

Here is a poll from NZoom...
<table cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 width=145 border=0> <tbody> <tr bgcolor=#3366cc> <td width=15 bgcolor=#000000></td> <td width=5>

</td> <td width=145>ONE SPORT POLL</td></tr></tbody></table> <table cellspacing=0 cellpadding=5 width=145 bgcolor=#ffffff border=0> <tbody> <tr> <td valign=top align=left>Your reaction to the IRB decision?

5%<br clear=all>Absolutely gutted and heartbroken

38%<br clear=all>Axe McCaw and Rutherford

9%<br clear=all>Just glad the saga is over

16%<br clear=all>#$%^#!*#$ Australians

32%<br clear=all>Now we HAVE to win</td></tr></tbody></table>
At least it looks like now that some kiwis are starting to see the source of their problems.

 

[ozbash]

<table cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 width=156 align=left bgcolor=#ffffff border=0> <tbody> <tr> <td>

</td></tr> <tr> <td>zinny-grouse futballa</td></tr></tbody></table>Australia Accused Of 'stealing' Cup
19/04/2002 11:25 AM
Former All Black Zinzan Brooke has accused Australia of 'stealing' the 2003 World Cup and has urged New Zealand to respond by threatening to pull out of the tournament.
The IRB confirmed on Thursday that Australia would host the 2003 World Cup on their own after New Zealand officials last month refused to sign the sub-host agreement.
"This is a real shock for New Zealand, a big blow," Brooke was quoted as saying by the BBC on Thursday.
"It's a kick in the teeth and I would like to see the All Blacks respond by threatening to pull out of the tournament.
"It's a complete disaster and the outcome is totally unacceptable. Regardless of the arguments for and against, it's the wrong decision, though I'm sure the Australians will be celebrating."
Brooke also said in his column on the BBC website that Australia had manipulated the situation in revenge for New Zealand's decision to block the expansion of the Super 12 series.
"The IRB's decision to award sole rights to stage the 2003 Rugby World Cup to Australia is a disgrace," said Brooke, a back row forward capped 58 times by his country.
"The New Zealand Rugby Football Union has let the country down badly, but don't for one minute think the Australians are innocent, because they are not."
STEAL TOURNAMENT
"It's been their intention for a while to steal the entire tournament -- ever since New Zealand rejected plans to expand the Super 12 ... that's what this is all about and don't let anyone tell you otherwise.
"We hurt Australia and now they're getting their revenge. It's all very petty."
New Zealand vetoed plans in February for the Super 12 to be increased to 14 sides, with Australia and South Africa each gaining an extra team in the regional competition.
Brooke also wrote that New Zealand should withdraw from the Bledisloe Cup, the annual competition between the trans-Tasman Sea rivals which has now been incorporated into the Tri-Nations championship.
"There is no way that New Zealand should play the Bledisloe Cup games -- they should just let the Aussies hang onto the Cup if that's what they want.
"Clearly it became a priority for Australia to go it alone (with the World Cup) -- once New Zealand had highlighted its concerns.
"They don't see to have done a great deal to iron out problems -- they've been more than happy to fan the flames."
WARNING FIRED
Brooke also fired a warning to the Wallaby players to expect a tough encounter the next time the two sides meet.
"Australia are using the World Cup as a way of getting back at New Zealand -- it's as simple as that," he added.
"It's pathetic, but the All Blacks will mop all this up as motivation. I can't wait for the next time the teams play each other.
"The Aussies are just going to have to watch out, that's for sure."
Boycotts permitting, New Zealand and Australia's next planned meeting will be on July 13 in Christchurch in the opening game of the Tri Nations, which also features South Africa

 

[ozbash]

<table cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 width=156 align=left bgcolor=#ffffff border=0> <tbody> <tr> <td>

</td></tr> <tr> <td>Murray McCaw (Chairman) David Rutherford (CEO) and Tane Norton (Vice President). </td></tr></tbody></table>Money Won World Cup For Australia
19/04/2002 10:19 AM
New Zealand rugby union officials said money had won the day after Australia were confirmed as the sole hosts of the 2003 World Cup on Thursday.
But New Zealand's Minister for Sport reminded All Blacks fans that rugby union was only a game. New Zealand were originally named as co-hosts but were sidestepped by organisers after they could not comply with key contract conditions.
"We are extremely disappointed. New Zealand has put its heart and soul into this effort," Murray McCaw, chairman of the New Zealand Rugby Football Union, said in a statement.
"New Zealand's desire to co-host the Rugby World Cup is probably stronger than any other country in the world and we have worked as hard as is humanly possible to be involved in the tournament.
"The NZRFU argued strongly that if the objective of rugby World Cups is to grow the game by showcasing it to the world, then there was no better place than New Zealand to host or co-host it.
"In the end, however, it still wasn't enough to convince the IRB (International Rugby Board) Council.
"They appeared to put a greater emphasis on the extra money the Australian solo bid brought in ahead of the original joint hosting arrangement. Money has won the day."
The sport's showpiece, held every four years, was secured by Australia and New Zealand, co-hosts of the inaugural tournament in 1987, with Australia as the senior partner.
World Cup organisers withdrew their invitation to New Zealand last month and Australia was invited to put together a solo bid which was rubber-stamped by the IRB on Thursday.
ONLY A GAME
"With all the tragedies that are going on both in New Zealand and internationally it is important to remember that this is only a game," said Minister for Sport Trevor Mallard.
"Unfortunately, the outcome is not the one we were hoping for. I am disappointed and I know many other New Zealanders will be as well.
"It is now important to focus energy on supporting the All Blacks to play their best and bring the Cup back to New Zealand where it belongs.
Australia's Tourism Minister, Joe Hockey, said: "It is a significant shot in the arm for Australian tourism in the wake of the Sydney Olympics."
New South Wales state premier Bob Carr added: "This is great news for Australian rugby fans and NSW business. The NSW community is ready to repeat our Olympic success.
"I expect our volunteers, train drivers, police, ambulance officers and key government officials will called upon to help the Australian Rugby Union organise the tournament."
The 20-nation, 48-match tournament will take place in October and November 2003, mostly in New South Wales and Queensland

 

[imported_Te Kaha]

I have no idea why people are blaming the ARU. For a start, what did they do wrong?
Because they are led by a complete Arsehole who would sell his own mother if it got him what he wanted.

Last year, the papers read that NZ was going to pull out of the RWC hosting agreement. Why? Because they felt that they were going to make a loss in the millions. So they ended up sounding the call to the ARU. The ARU evaluated the matter and decided that they would give NZRU $10mill of their money to offset any losses. Both agreed and everything was back on track. In the later months of 2001 the ARU signed the host agreement leaving only NZ to do the same.
They couldn't comply at the time because they were lied to by Vermin puke. He also lied to Trevor Mallard about the "door still being open"

A couple of days ago the IRB were going to announce their decision but delayed a day because the NZRU threatened legal action against them.
Now you are lying. Or believing the Australian bullshit. The NZRFU NEVER threatened legal action.

Now the kiwis may point to the S14 as were it all started by I don't neccessarily share that view
The day after the NZRFU veteod the super 14 a memo was sent to the IRB stating that the ARU could not work with NZRFU and asked if they could stagethe cupthemselves. Coincidence? Of course not. O'Niell just wanted revenge.

Now f**kwit O'neil has said the "ARU is putting aside substantial amounts of tickets for New Zealanders as a jesture of good will". Translation "We know we can fill the stadiums with out the kiwis".

Heres a prediction for you..... Next years NPC is played to full stadiums while there are LOTS of empty seats during the world cup played at the same time.

 

[ozbash]

<table cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 width=156 align=left bgcolor=#ffffff border=0> <tbody> <tr> <td>

</td></tr> <tr> <td>trev</td></tr></tbody></table>NZ 'Ripped Off' - Mallard
19/04/2002 01:30 PM
The Minister of Sport is slamming rugby officials across the Tasman.
It follows New Zealand's loss of any hope of co-hosting rights to the Rugby World Cup.
The International Rugby Board has given Australia the thumbs up to host next year's tournament solo.
Sport Minister Trevor Mallard believes New Zealand has been ripped off by Australian Rugby Union boss John O'Neill.
He says Mr O'Neill has not been up-front about the agreements the ARU has put in place.
He also accuses Mr O'Neill of having a close personal relationship with IRB chief Vernon Pugh.
New Zealand in turn is being accused of "wholly inappropriate" behaviour by the IRB, which praises Australia for its "outstanding" proposal, which "held an attraction, a professionalism and a logic which were irresistible."
Mr Mallard says New Zealand now needs to get over the decision and focus on winning the tournament.
Meanwhile, the New Zealand Rugby Union is prepared to let bygones be bygones.
NZRFU chairman Murray McCaw says New Zealand must move forward in a positive fashion and concentrate on growing the game at home and globally.
He says looking back or recriminations will not help

 

[ozbash]

""He also accuses Mr O'Neill of having a close personal relationship with IRB chief Vernon Pugh""

hmm,wonder who was on top ?
those bloody O'neils !!.

 

[Marcus]

MFC, the kiwis will come over - don't worry. They maybe emotional now but 18months down the track things will be different. They will be here in droves. As for Zinzan, he was going about how the ARU ploted a petty revenge attack, but he in turn went to say that the All Blacks should withdraw from the Bledisoe/3N - what does he call that? Petty revenge.

Crowds will be good. Australia, NZ, South Africa, England, and France should sellout nearly all of their games. The others should get decent crowds. If your wondering about rugby in Japan and whether fans will come down. Well, they will. Collegiate rugby in Japan is a lot more popular that the company game. This year 50,000 packed Tokyo National Stadium to watch Waseda University take on Kanto Gakuin Uni in the final - so the game does have a good following.

The Aussie peso will be the biggest factor in attracting people from Europe, Asia, and Nth America to come. WC 99' probably didn't have a lot of tourists go to the UK because of the exchange rate. But I think this time the opportunity to attract overseas rugby fans will be a lot bigger as they will win through the exchange rate.

I believe the WC will be a great success and holding it in one country will be one of the reason for it's success.

I'm going to go to all the game that I can, and maybe go to an All Black game as I heard they are most likely to be playing games in Brisbane.

 

[ozbash]

<table cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 border=0> <tbody> <tr> <td width=450 height=10>&lt;SPACER TYPE="block" WIDTH="450" HEIGHT="10">&lt;/SPACER></td></tr> <tr> <td> <table cellspacing=0 cellpadding=2 align=right border=0> <tbody> <tr> <td>

</td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table>
say no more !!!!!!!

 

[ozbash]

No sooner had Australia won the right to stage the 2003 Rugby World Cup alone, than officials quickly set about the delicate task of trying to repair the damage caused by their latest feud with New Zealand. Despite a long history of fighting together in major conflicts and shared interests, the two former British colonies have never been the best of neighbours, and have spent just as much time battling each other on the sporting fields of the world. But the bitterness over the hosting rights for the rugby World Cup has put new strains on their relationship, with New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark warning of further problems following the decision to strip the Kiwis of their co-hosting role. The low point in trans-Tasman relations occurred in 1980 with the now infamous "underarm" incident in a one-day cricket match. The delivery Trevor Chappell bowled to Brian McKechnie at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, preventing the Kiwis from any chance of getting a six they needed to tie the match, will always be the benchmark for lows in trans-Tasman sports. But Australians have a moment, in rugby, they consider just as unsportsmanlike -- the injuring of Ken Catchpole in Sydney in 1968. Catchpole was one of Australia's greatest scrumhalves ever and certainly the best of his generation but his brilliant career came to a premature end when he suffered horrific leg injuries at the bottom of a ruck playing against the All Blacks. New Zealand rugby fans were insulted when, in 1990, Australian hooker Phil Kearns gave the All Blacks a two-fingered salute after crashing over for a match-winning try in the final game of a series the Kiwis had already won. Two years later, Australian supporters were furious when giant All Black prop Richard Loe broke jockey-sized Australian winger Paul Carozza's nose after he had scored a try in a test in Brisbane. Their anger only intensified when the New Zealand management decided not to punish Loe. The advent of professionalism has seen a reduction in the number of on-field incidents but relations remain just as tense. Earlier this year, O'Neill accused New Zealand of an "act of treachery" after their decision to block Australia's plan to expand the provincial Super 12 competition. Several days later, the Australian team was pelted by missiles at a sevens tournament in New Zealand. All this just a month after the New Zealand cricket team admitted to deliberately batting slowly in a one-day game with South Africa to ensure Australia missed out on a place in the finals of a triangular tournament they were hosting. But rugby is the game New Zealanders hold closest to their hearts and the drawn-out saga over the World Cup hosting rights has already soured relations. The Australian Rugby Union, fearing a return to the days of "underarm", immediately called for an end to hostilities and extended an olive branch to New Zealand supporters. "Needless to say there is some healing to be done and we will start that process by increasing the number of tickets available to New Zealand supporters to see their All Blacks play at the Rugby World Cup," said John O'Neill, managing director of the Australian Rugby Union. The International Rugby Board also called for a truce before next year's tournament. "There is little doubt that relationships have been damaged as a result of these unhappy events," the IRB said in a statement. "The IRB now holds out the hope that all parties will accept the final outcome with dignity, and that the truly international spirit which cements the sport will quickly heal any wounds."