Barely one third of New Zealanders are enthusiastic about the Rugby World Cup, a mere five weeks out from the sport’s global showpiece, said a survey released on Tuesday.
A nationwide online poll found only 37 percent were looking forward to the tournament, 35 percent were not, and the remainder had no feelings either way.
The figures were skewed by a marked lack of enthusiasm in the largest South Island province of Canterbury which has been devastated by a series of earthquakes over the past 11 months, pollsters UMR Research said.
Seven World Cup games scheduled for Canterbury were moved away when AMI Stadium in the main city of Christchurch was rendered unusable due to quake damage.
The Canterbury result suggested “they are feeling left out after games were moved away from Christchurch”, the survey said.
The September 9-October 23 tournament will be the largest event ever staged in New Zealand, with 85,000 overseas fans expected to attend.
The poll, conducted in early July, had a 3.4 percent margin of error.
This makes me worry about the overall success of the RWC….
Anyone under the age of 24 can’t remember what its like to win a world cup…..and with all the hype plenty are concerned that they are going to choke again. I think nervousness is the name of the game.
GBS tv rights etc there will be enough money made don’t worry and the Kiwi’s will need some excape when it comes around, so they will focus on it then. That earthquake was a huge thing in their lives, I am in touch with a number of mates there…..and it aint easy at the moment with a recession and all.
4man @ 2
in fact, that age could be as high as 28/29? … guys in that age group wouldve been 4/5 at the time when they won the wc
and i think their recollection of it will be very vague … unless, as is mostly the case, its linked to some other powerful memory …
anyway, they better start winnng the wc soon or they’ll end up with headlines like “last living nzlander to see us lift the wc, dies at 98” 😀
@ Ashley:
lol Ash, you just made my day!
@ Ashley:
Ash…..Ek smokkel met hulle breine, ek weet hulle lees hier…..soos my ou Sammajoor gese het “kry vir jou”!!!
scrumdown @ 4
my pleasure, bru
ok,
would be interesting to see the ages of the current all blacks and how many of them never saw their team lift the wc trophy? can anyone check that for us, please? i couldve, but i’m too lazy, lol
Imagine growing up in a country having never experienced the elation of winning a world cup.
Then imagine that country being ranked number 1 consistently.
Then imagine your greatest memory was the first time you kissed a girl
Then imagine more than one third of the population falls in those categories.
Then imagine you live in France, Ireland, Wales and Scotland.
Sorry but I am in tears just thinking about it.
SNIFF
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