2011 Rugby World Cup - photos

Rugby World Cup

All Black Coaches

2011 All Blacks

2011 All Blacks

About 2011 Rugby World Cup

The 2011 Rugby World Cup was hosted and won by New Zealand. New Zealand defeated France 8- 7 in the final to take the cup for the second time in the competition's history. Previous to that, New Zealand hosted and won the first world cup back in 1987.

In the history of Rugby, the New Zealand All Blacks have always been the team to beat. They are considered the most successful national team of any international sport winning over 75% of their games. They have been ranked the number one team more than all other nations combined.

The All Blacks impressive dominance of international rugby is however not reflected in Rugby World Cup statistics. In every World Cup they have gone in as favourites but have only managed to equal Australia and South Africa who have also won the cup twice.

Winning the 2011 Rugby World Cup ended what many considered a curse, where the All Blacks were able to win every other award except the greatest one of all. However in the final match in 2011 against France, the All Blacks came close to losing the game which almost repeated two previous World Cups where France were the team that knocked the All Blacks out of the competition.

From New Zealand's point of view the 2011 Rugby World Cup was a great success. Not only because they won, but because the event cost NZ$310 million to host and New Zealand got back more than NZ$285 million in ticket sales, as well as, NZ$260 million in accommodation related spending and a further NZ$236 million on food and beverage sales.

The only real problem the competition had to endure was the Christchurch Earthquake which struck earlier in 2011 and destroyed the CBD of Christchurch as well as many other buildings and houses. AMI Stadium, the city's main rugby stadium, was to host many cup games. It was beyond repair, so other cities had to host these games and international teams that were to be based in Christchcurch had to move too.