Rugby: Cup chief keeping close eye on progress at stadium

Martin Snedden. Photo by NZPA.
Martin Snedden. Photo by NZPA.
Rugby World Cup organisers were "keeping a really close" eye on Dunedin's Forsyth Barr Stadium, RWC 2011 chief executive Martin Snedden said yesterday.

In Queenstown to speak with local and regional parties before next year's event, Snedden said completion of the $198 million stadium, whose construction began in July 2009, would go "right down to the wire".

The stadium was due to open in August 2011, providing construction went according to plan, leaving just weeks until the Rugby World Cup kicked off.

"It can't afford [for] anything to go wrong," Snedden said.

"My sense is that it will succeed [but] it's got a couple of risk areas. The construction of the fully closed-in roof is probably ... the most risky."

Snedden said ideally, the stadium would be fully operational and tested before the tournament.

"There is a need to work with Otago rugby, the Dunedin City Council and New Zealand rugby to see what can be done to give it as much operational time as possible ... I suspect there would be an opportunity for the stadium to host at least a couple of Otago matches before [the Cup, providing it is finished on time].

"In some respects, our attitude is that they are putting such a team effort in making sure this is right, we have got to back them to the hilt.

"It may be that we have to hold our breath when it comes to the match and just hope.

"There is so much goodwill around that thing ... I think there is now an extremely positive feel about it and when it's finished and it's showcased during the World Cup, I think it will be an incredible, remarkable feature.

"We already know that the teams that are playing there are really excited by that fact."

Snedden said tournament organisers had rights of veto if they were not completely satisfied with the stadium, but would continue to push for as much operational use of it as was "reasonably possible".

"But, at the end, it's a bit of a balance call.

"We've got to be really careful to get the balance right in terms of making a decision whether or not we can take a risk around it."

Meanwhile, ticket sales were going well despite about 10,000 credit cards rejecting the price of the tickets in phase one.

Snedden said "one in five" credit cards had failed when the tickets were charged, either due to cards having expired or limits being exceeded.

While sales for matches in Invercargill and Dunedin matches had been "moderate", the region was the country's slowest in terms of sales.

"One of the [issues] in Dunedin is people don't really know whether it's at Carisbrook or the new stadium, so they're holding back a little.

"The other thing we know ... is they wait.

"It's hard work ... there are 431 days to go, I know that's going to go like a flash ... but for others, that's a year and a-quarter away."

 

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