2011 Rugby World Cup
7th Rugby World Cup / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The 2011 Rugby World Cup (Māori: Ipu o te Ao Whutupōro 2011), 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.[1] The defending champions, South Africa, were eliminated by Australia 11–9 in the quarter-finals.[2] 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).
| Māori: Ipu o te Ao Whutupōro 2011 | |
|---|---|
| |
| Tournament details | |
| Host nation |  New Zealand |
| Dates | 9 September – 23 October |
| No. of nations | 20 (91 qualifying) |
| Final positions | |
Champions  | New Zealand |
Runner-up  |  France |
Third place  | .svg/23px-Flag_of_Australia_(converted).svg.png){kind=small} Australia |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 48 |
| Attendance | 1,477,294 (30,777 per match) |
| Top scorer(s) |  Morné Steyn (62) |
| Most tries |  Chris Ashton Vincent Clerc(6 tries each) |
← 2007 2015 → | |
It was the largest sporting event ever held in New Zealand,[3] eclipsing the 1987 Rugby World Cup, 1990 Commonwealth Games, 1992 Cricket World Cup and the 2003 America's Cup.[4] 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.[5][6]
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.[7]
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.[8] 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.[9] Of the 20 countries that competed in the previous World Cup in 2007, there was only one change – Russia replaced Portugal.