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2011 Rugby World Cup

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2011 Rugby World Cup

The 2011 Rugby World Cup, was the seventh Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition inaugurated in 1987. The International Rugby Board (IRB) selected New Zealand as the host country in preference to Japan and South Africa at a meeting in Dublin on 17 November 2005. The tournament was won by New Zealand, who defeated France 8–7 in the final. The defending champions, South Africa, were eliminated by Australia 11–9 in the quarter-finals. The result marked the third time that the tournament was won by the country that hosted the event (following New Zealand in 1987 and South Africa in 1995).

It was the largest sporting event ever held in New Zealand, eclipsing the 1987 Rugby World Cup, 1990 Commonwealth Games, 1992 Cricket World Cup and the 2003 America's Cup. Overseas visitors to New Zealand for the event totalled 133,000, more than the 95,000 that the organisers expected. However, there was a drop in non-event visitors, meaning the net increase in visitors over the previous year was less than 80,000.

The games ran over six weeks, commencing on 9 September 2011 with the opening ceremony showcasing New Zealand's history and diverse cultures. The final was played at Eden Park in Auckland on 23 October 2011, a date chosen because it fell on a long weekend of New Zealand's Labour Day holiday.

After speculation that the number of participating teams would be reduced to 16, the IRB announced on 30 November 2007 that the 2011 tournament would again feature 20 teams. Twelve teams qualified as a result of finishing in the top three in each pool in the 2007 tournament. The remaining eight berths were determined by regional qualifying tournaments. Of the 20 countries that competed in the previous World Cup in 2007, there was only one change – Russia replaced Portugal.

Three nations bid to host the 2011 Rugby World Cup – New Zealand, Japan, and South Africa.

New Zealand had co-hosted the first Rugby World Cup with Australia in 1987, and had been set to co-host the 2003 World Cup with Australia before a disagreement over ground signage rights resulted in New Zealand being dropped and Australia became the sole host. The 2011 New Zealand bid contained plans to enlarge the size of Eden Park and other stadiums to help increase the commercial viability of the bid.

Japan was bidding to become the first Asian nation to host the first Rugby World Cup. Japan had the necessary infrastructure already in place, by virtue of its co-hosting the 2002 FIFA World Cup.

South Africa had hosted the tournament in 1995. The 2011 South African bid, led by former national captain Francois Pienaar, had strong support from their national government. South Africa had also won the right to host the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

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