England Announce World Cup Rugby Finals

For the Rugby World Cup 2011, England has announced there warm ups matches and said we are ready for the challenge.

According to team manager Martin side will face Wales at Twickenham Stadium on Saturday, August 6, with the return game taking place at the Millennium Stadium on Saturday, August 13.

They travel to face Ireland at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin on Saturday, August 27 before departing for New Zealand the following week.

Johnson said: "These three games are an important element in our build-up to Rugby World Cup 2011. "

"We're looking forward to playing both Wales home and away and Ireland as part of our preparation, and they should be excellent contests."

The RFU say that kick off times will be confirmed in due course.

Rugby World Cup Qualifiers Ends Up In A Draw

MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay (AP) -A late penalty by flyhalf Matias Arocena has allowed Uruguay to draw with Romania 21-21 in their Rugby World Cup playoff at Charrua Stadium on Saturday.

They are playing for the 20th and final spot in next year's tournament in New Zealand.
The second leg is in two weeks in Bucharest, and the winner on aggregate will qualify.
Romania has never missed a World Cup, while Uruguay is trying to reach its third.

Thousands of extra tickets for Christchurch's seven Rugby World Cup

Christchurch lands more tickets to Rugby World Cup matches which will commence on sale from November 15.

Tickets will be available online for the first come first served basis for the five pool matches and two quarterfinals.

Martin Snedden, Rugby World Cup chief executive said that "the offer was made because the Canterbury earthquake hit six days before the second round of cup ticket sales began"

Snedden was of the view that the earthquake will not effect sales in Christchurch,but if it had the extra chance to buy tickets would help.

For the pool games thousand of tickets will going to be available also, with fewer available for the two quarterfinals.

"It varies from match to match," Snedden said. "In the pool phase, there are lots of tickets around.

"In the quarterfinals, sales have been going so well that tickets will be limited, but there definitely will be good-quality seats available for both games."

He said ticket sales in Christchurch "haven't been slow".

"The tickets for the pool matches have been going as we expected them to," he said. "We're pretty happy with how it sits."

Anyone buying tickets can enter a ballot for tickets for the semifinals and final.

The extra tickets would be available worldwide, not just to Canterbury fans, he said.

They will be available from 9am, November 15, on www.rugbyworldcup/christchurch. There will be a limit of four tickets per customer, but Rugby World Cup bosses are considering raising that number to six for the Christchurch pool matches.

Rugby World Cup Organizers Fix Late-Night Finals to Attract Global Viewers

Nineteen of the 48 matches at next year’s Rugby World Cup in New Zealand will begin at 8 p.m. local time or later to appeal to television viewers in the U.K., Europe and South Africa.

Tournament organizer Rugby New Zealand 2011 said today that the quarterfinal double-headers in Wellington and Christchurch will kick off at 6 p.m. and 8.30 p.m., while both semifinals and the final will begin at 9 p.m. in Auckland.

“If New Zealand is to make the most of the platform RWC 2011 gives us to showcase our country to the world, then we need to ensure we maximize the global television audience for key matches,” Martin Snedden, Rugby New Zealand 2011’s chief executive officer, said in a statement.

New Zealand will switch to daylight saving time two weeks into the Sept. 9-Oct. 23 tournament, taking it 12 hours ahead of the U.K. and 11 hours ahead of the major European rugby markets and South Africa, home to the defending champion Springboks.

The 2007 edition in France attracted a cumulative global TV audience of more than 4 billion, according to figures provided by the International Rugby Board.

Rugby World Cup for Woman 'could boost sport take-up'

Rugby World Cup Womens are hoping health experts, being held in Surrey, will encourage more people to get active.

Victoria Heald, at NHS Surrey public health development worker, said more women may take up rugby as a result of the tournament.

But she said there could also be a wider "festival effect" and it could be the inspiration many people required.

At Guildford's Surrey Sports Park the event started on Friday.

Martin Johnson's England can rule world, says former boss Brian Ashton

Brian Ashton believes England have time to emerge as contenders at next year's World Cup, but only if they build on their narrow win over Australia.

As Martin Johnson's squad begin their pre-season training camp at Twickenham today, the man who guided the national team to the final of the last World Cup in 2007 is optimistic that a corner may have been turned by the 21-20 victory in Sydney this summer.

England stumbled into the final three years ago and Ashton said: 'Given that we got to the final last time, I believe anything can happen in a World Cup. England are much further ahead now because Johnno has been there for two years. I was only there for six months before the last World Cup. We didn't even know what our squad was going to be.'

Key: Rugby World Cup not all about drinking

People will come to New Zealand primarily to watch the rugby, not get drunk, during the Rugby World Cup next year, Prime Minister John Key says.

"I think people come here primarily...to actually watch rugby and to enjoy the very best of New Zealand and that might include some alcohol - a glass of wine or a couple of beers - but it's not limited to that," Mr Key said about concerns of excessive drinking at the event.

Most people would want to experience New Zealand's culture, food and scenery, he said.

The Lions tour in 2005 was a good example of a well behaved rugby crowd.

"They're an audience that's known for wanting to have a good time but they also behaved themselves impeccably."

While the numbers would be larger for the Rugby World Cup the festival atmosphere would be the same, Mr Key said.

The so-called "party central" to be hosted at Queens Wharf in Auckland would be a multipurpose space, he said.

It would host events during the day, bands and fairs as well as having large television screens where people could watch games.

"Party central's never been just solely a place where people go and consume alcohol," Mr Key said.

"It's a place where there's going to be quite a bit of celebration... that's one aspect of it but that's not its role in totality."

The Rugby World Cup will be held in September and October next year.