AMI Stadium in Christchurch was slated to host two quarter-finals plus five pool matches, but a report stated that there could be no guarantees that repairs to the venue and the city’s infrastructure would be finished by the start of the competition in September.
The quarter-finals will be switched to Eden Park in Auckland, but it has not yet been decided which venues will host the group matches. Dunedin, Nelson and Invercargill are in the running to stage the relocated games, but two of the fixtures could end up taking place on the North Island.
“Yesterday we were informed by Stadium Christchurch operator VBase that it could not guarantee that the extensive repairs required could be completed in time,” said International Rugby Board chairman Bernard Lapasset.
“That information, coupled with a thorough review of every aspect of hosting the 2011 Rugby World Cup in the city, means that tournament partners have been left with no choice but to make the difficult decision to reallocate the seven matches due to be played in Christchurch,” he added.
New Zealand's Rugby World Cup Minister, Murray McCully, added: “There is also the risk of new testing exposing fresh problems and causing further delays. While complete turf replacement is required, it is theoretically possible in a six-month period. (However) the risks are relatively high, especially if there is damage to the complex drainage of storm-water systems underneath the turf.”
