Rugby World Cup Ticket Sales Surge; TMO Protocol Clarification

Rugby New Zealand 2011 has confirmed that ticket sales are growing as the tournament gets underway.

The seventh Rugby World Cup kicked on Friday with an impressive opening ceremony at Eden Park, a massive public party and fireworks display around the Auckland waterfront followed by the New Zealand v Tonga game, which ended 41-10 in favour of the All Blacks.

“We are now seeing sales of almost NZ$1m a day,” said Therese Walsh, Chief Operating Officer for Rugby New Zealand 2011 on Saturday. “We always expected sales to rise as the tournament comes alive across the country so it’s great to see so many New Zealanders now wanting to be ringside.”

Tournament organisers have sold over 1.2 million tickets with ticket sales revenue over NZ$249m, leaving around NZ$19.5m to reach the tournament end target.

With the only the opening weekend of games played, the Rugby World Cup has already produced some dazzling displays of nail-biting rugby with plenty more to come.

RWCL Clarification Regarding TMO Protocol

This morning, Rugby World Cup Limited issued a statement to clarify the status of the Television Match Official protocol following Sunday’s Pool D match between South Africa and Wales which ended 16 - 17 in South Africa’s favour.

The statement reads: “Under protocol, the Referee may consult the Assistant Referees or the Television Match Official if he is unsure as to whether a penalty kick, drop goal or conversion has been successful. During the match in question, the match official team felt at the time that there was no need to consult the TMO following a Wales penalty kick as they were confident that the kick was not successful. Correct protocol was therefore followed. The IRB will not be making further comment.”

During the game James Hook had a penalty controversially ruled out when the referee and assistant referees ajudged it had gone wide despite TV replays suggesting it had indeed gone between the posts. If the penalty kick had been awarded Wales would have earned an extra three points.

Games at the Rugby World Cup resume on Wednesday.

See also: Rugby World Cup launches App

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