The tournament's organising body, Rugby New Zealand 2011, said that under the plans, Wellington and Christchurch would each host two quarter-finals while the play-off for third and fourth place would be held in Auckland. The body had previously announced that both the semi-finals and final would be played in Auckland – the country's largest city.
In a statement to the press, RNZ 2011 Chief Executive, Martin Snedden said: "Each region has shown a strong desire to help us deliver a world class tournament and also to deliver a memorable national Rugby World Cup festival”.
As part of the government-backed tournament programme, Auckland's Eden Park, is undergoing a $165 million refurbishment, which will see its capacity increased to 60,000. Wellington's nine-year-old Westpac Stadium can seat 39,500 people, whilst Christchurch is redeveloping its AMI Stadium to have a capacity of 41,000 in time for 2011.
The Rugby World Cup will be held in September and October 2011, with the final scheduled for the weekend of October 22-23.
Submitted by Matthew Glendinning on Thu, 04/09/2008 - 09:16
New Zealand's three biggest cities will host the knock-out stages of the 2011 Rugby World Cup, Reuters reports.
