Rugby World Cup 2011

Dunedin City Council events and special projects officer Kim Newman shows one of many unclaimed 2011 Rugby World Cup certificates and medals on Wednesday.

The Rugby World Cup seems to have staved off any impact the global financial crisis might have had on tourist numbers to the Waitaki District.

A new report calling the Rugby World Cup an "overwhelming success'' has revealed fewer than 10 percent of Auckland businesses believe the sporting event had benefited them.

Sports Minister Murray McCully thinks the Rugby World Cup could have some benefit for the Government, but does not believe the results will have a political impact.

It was a long time coming. All the planning, all the spending, all the waiting and all the anticipation came to a head at the weekend with the opening of the Rugby World Cup in New Zealand and the beginning of the South's role in that.

Excellent. They showed plenty of class. Fair. They did enough to win. Poor. They made too many mistakes.

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Former Dunedin opera singer Jonathan Lemalu is one of seven distinguished New Zealand singers chosen to perform national anthems at the 2011 Rugby World Cup.

The Pumas arrive for a warm up before a training session at the University Oval in Dunedin yesterday. The scoreboard message, in Spanish, reads: "Welcome and good luck".

Fancy new barriers will provide a smart appearance to the lower Octagon around Rugby World Cup matches, and make it clear where the temporary liquor ban applies, says the Dunedin City Council.

More than 100 people - including children waving Georgian flags - turned out at Queenstown Airport last night to welcome the Georgia Rugby World Cup squad to the resort and New Zealand. Members of the Georgia RWC squad, including captain Irakli Abuseridze (second from right) are pictured taking in the atmosphere at the airport.