The rugby World Cup's warm up roadshow kicked off in Bluff today, with the William Webb Ellis Cup embarking on a four-week tour of the country.
The RWC 2011 Roadshow - a custom-designed truck housing the Webb Ellis Cup - opens out into a 72sq m "events centre" with interactive displays and videos on rugby World Cup history.
Today includes a trip, with the cup only, to Stewart Island's Half Moon Bay School, before the show heads north, travelling as far as Kaitaia.
During the roadshow, people will be able to have their photo taken with the Webb Ellis Cup.
A different World Cup nation will be profiled on each weekday and communities will be encouraged to adopt and support a visiting team.
Cup organisers said on Friday they had sold 900,000 tickets for matches, still short of their 1.35 million target. Ticket sales revenue hit $200 million, or 75 percent of the forecast $268.5m.
The final phase of ticket sales starts this week. The public can buy tickets online for pool matches from today and tickets for the knockout rounds are available from tomorrow.
