Definitely maybe: continuity and change in the Rugby World Cup

Abstract

The 2011 Rugby World Cup (RWC) in New Zealand provides an opportune moment to look back and consider the development of the tournament alongside the globalization of the sport in the period since 1987. Shaped around an analysis of the North/South balance of power in the game, this paper offers an appraisal of where the sport now sits and considers some of the challenges ahead. Although the events of the 2011 RWC show how many things have changed since the inaugural event of 1987, it is also clear that some things remain the same. This paper considers the positioning of the sport as an international game and reflects on the status of its flagship event.

Notes

^1.Hutchins, ‘Global Processes and the Rugby Union World Cup’, 38.

^2.Wyatt, Rugby Disunion.

^3. Ibid., 57.

^4. See Black and Nauright, Rugby and the South African Nation and Carlin, Playing the Enemy.

^5. Black and Nauright, Rugby and the South African Nation, viii.

^6.Jones, ‘Mega-Events and Host-Region Impacts’.

^7. See especially, Woodward with Pontanin, Winning.

^8.Hautboir and Charrier, ‘Local Economic and Social Impact’.

^9.Spectrum Value Partners and Addleshaw Goddard, Putting Rugby First, 6.

^10. Rees, ‘Bill Beaumont on the Ropes as IRB Vote Descends into FIFA-Style Farce’, The Observer, October 22, 2011.

^11.Roberts, Leisure Industries, 109.

^12.Roche, Mega-Events and Modernity, 1.

^13.Preuss, Economics of Staging the Olympics.

^14. See, for example Harris and Lepp, ‘Golf, Tourism and the 2010 Ryder Cup’.

^15.International Rugby Board, ‘IRB World Rankings’.

^16.International Rugby Board, Playing Charter.

^17. Spectrum Value Partners and Addleshaw Goddard, Putting Rugby First.

^18.Chadwick, Semens and Arthur., Economic Impact Report on Global Rugby.

^19.Hutchins and Phillips, ‘Global Union’.

^20. See, for example Bairner, Sport, Nationalism, and Globalization; Maguire, Global Sport and Markovits and Rensmann, Gaming the World.

^21. See, for example Giulianotti, Football; Giulianotti and Robertson, Globalization and Football and Wagg, Giving the Game Away.

^22.Richards, Game for Hooligans, provides a good historical account of the game in an international perspective. Harris, Rugby Union and Globalization, offers a broad overview of the sport since 1995 whilst Scherer and Jackson, Globalization, Sport and Corporate Nationalism, present a detailed case study of these issues in New Zealand.

^23. Spectrum Value Partners and Addleshaw Goddard, Putting Rugby First, 3.

^24.Wallerstein, Modern World System.

^25. Wyatt, Rugby Disunion, 52.

^26.Harris and Wise, ‘Geographies of Scale in International Rugby Union’.

^27.International Rugby Board, IRB Strategic Plan.

^28. Hutchins and Phillips, ‘Global Union’, 159–60.

^29.Collins, Social History of English Rugby Union.

^30.Thomas, History of the British and Irish Lions.

^31. Wyatt, Rugby Disunion, 21.

^32.Smith, Union Game.

^33.Fitzsimons, Rugby War, provides an informative account of this.

^34.Lewis and Winder, ‘Sporting Narratives and Globalization’, 213.

^35. See, for example Gilson et al., Peak Performance; Jackson, Batty and Scherer, ‘Transnational Sport Marketing’ and Scherer and Jackson, Globalization, Sport and Corporate Nationalism.

^36.Beaverstock, ‘Managing Across Borders’.

^37. Harris, Rugby Union and Globalization, Chap. 6.

^38. See Hope, ‘Whose All Blacks?’ for a detailed account of this.

^39. See, for example Jackson, Batty and Scherer, ‘Transnational Sport Marketing’; Jackson and Hokowhitu, ‘Sport, Tribes and Technology’ and Scherer and Jackson, Globalization, Sport and Corporate Nationalism.