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Be part of the stadium of four million and experience a uniquely New Zealand rugby festival when the 2011 Rugby Word Cup comes to Wellington, New Zealand. See below for venue announcements.

The International Rugby Board has announced the match schedule for the seventh Rugby World Cup, to be played in New Zealand from Friday 9 September to Sunday 23 October 2011.

The Rugby World Cup will be the largest global sporting event in 2011 and will kick off in Auckland when the host Nation New Zealand plays Tonga in a Pool A match.

The 48 matches that comprise the Tournament are scheduled across 13 venues in 13 cities: Auckland, North Shore (Auckland), Whangarei, Hamilton, Rotorua, New Plymouth, Napier, Palmerston North, Wellington, Nelson, Christchurch, Dunedin, and Invercargill.

Rugby World Cup in Wellington
Wellington is to host seven World Cup matches at Westpac Stadium in Thorndon, renamed Wellington Regional Stadium for the event. Wellington Mayor Kerry Prendergast is delighted with the number and selection of matches allocated to the Capital during Rugby World Cup 2011.

“Seven matches – including two quarter-finals – is a great result for Wellington and the Stadium. I’m sure local rugby fans, along with the region’s hoteliers and the hospitality industry in general, will be happy and relieved that we’ve got a genuine fair share of the Rugby World Cup action.”

Wellington will host the defending cup holders South Africa against Wales in the first big game in the capital on Sunday 11 September 2011. Along with the All Blacks, Wellington will host pool matches featuring the Springboks, Wales, Fiji, Australia, Tonga and qualifiers from the Americas.

The weekend before the quarter-finals will also be a blockbuster – with France-Tonga on the Saturday and the All Blacks versus an Americas qualifier on the Sunday. This double-header will kick off a festival week in the Capital leading up to the quarters. The council will be pulling out all the stops to make sure fans have a memorable stay in the Capital.

All matches in Wellington will also be over the weekends, which is good for crowd numbers and will give fans time to recover.

The Wellington City Council estimates pool games would generate up to $21 million for the local economy. The council's economic development and recreation portfolio leader, John Morrison, said hosting the All Blacks would be special for the city. Mr Morrison said the city would be transformed for the World Cup. "We are keen on making Wellington a party zone for the tournament, like we do for the rugby sevens."

Rugby World Cup Schedule - Wellington Matches
Date - Match Number - Pool - Teams - Location

Sun 11 Sept 8 D - South Africa v Wales Wellington

Sat 17 Sept 15 D - South Africa v Fiji Wellington

Fri 23 Sept 23 C - Australia v Americas 2 Wellington

Sat 1 Oct 35 A - France v Tonga Wellington

Sun 2 Oct 38 A - New Zealand v Americas 1 Wellington

Sat 8 Oct 41 - QF1: W Pool C v RU Pool D Wellington

Sun 9 Oct 43 - QF3: W Pool D v RU Pool C Wellington

To download the full Rugby World Cup Match Schedule, click here.

2011 Rugby World Cup Pools
Pool A: New Zealand, France, Tonga, Americas 1, Asia 1
Pool B: Argentina, England, Scotland, Europe 1, Play Off Winner
Pool C: Australia, Ireland, Italy, Europe 2, Americas 2
Pool D: South Africa, Wales, Fiji, Oceania 1, Africa 1

The first match of Rugby World Cup 2011 (RWC 2011) will kick off in New Zealand on Friday 9 September 2011.

The Final, Bronze Final and both semi-finals will be played at Eden Park in Auckland. The two venues and the quarter-final matches they will host have also been confirmed. Wellington will host Quarter-final 1 (winner Pool C versus runner-up Pool D) and Quarter-final 3 (winner Pool D versus runner-up Pool C) while Christchurch will host Quarter-final 2 (winner Pool B versus runner-up Pool A) and Quarter-final 4 (winner Pool A versus runner-up Pool B).

In addition, the dates for the final weekend, which coincides with Labour Day, have been confirmed with the Bronze Final to take place on Friday October 21 at Eden Park, followed by the Final on Sunday October 23 at the same venue.

New Zealanders can brace themselves for some late nights at the 2011 Rugby World Cup with some 9pm kick-offs, including the tournament final at Eden Park. Martin Snedden, CEO of Rugby New Zealand 2011, confirmed that 9pm and 8.30pm starts would be used along with the traditional evening New Zealand times of 7.30pm. Afternoon rugby will also feature with 10 of the 48 matches scheduled to be played with kickoffs ranging from 1pm to 3pm.

Ticketing
Rugby New Zealand 2011 Ltd (RNZ 2011) is in the process of developing the ticketing strategy for RWC 2011. It expects to be in a position to present the strategy for approval to Rugby World Cup Limited (RWCL) in early 2009, and anticipates releasing the strategy towards the end of 2009 with on-sale date yet to be determined.

Ticket prices will be established during the strategy development. RNZ 2011 faces the dual challenges of maximizing revenue yet ensuring the tournament remains accessible to New Zealanders and international supporters. Ticket pricing will reflect the stature of the tournament as the biggest sporting event in the world in 2011.

Rugby Travel & Hospitality Ltd has been awarded the contract for the Commercial Ticketing (Travel & Hospitality) Programme for Rugby World Cup 2011 in New Zealand. Details on travel & hospitality packages are yet to be released.

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