Rugby League: Lasting legacy message for World Cup launch

Nov 7 2007 by Ian Laybourn, Liverpool Daily Post

THE 2008 World Cup has been designed to leave a lasting legacy for rugby league, it was claimed at yesterday’s United Kingdom launch.

Australia are staging the 13th World Cup next autumn to help celebrate the centenary of the game Down Under. It will be the first time they have acted as hosts for more than 30 years.

"We are dedicated to building a legacy for the future of the game," tournament director Colin Love told a press conference in Leeds.

Tickets for the 18 matches, which will be staged at 12 different venues from Townsville to Melbourne, do not go on sale until tomorrow but Love says he has been "staggered" by the interest shown so far by British fans.

"We are very confident there will be huge numbers attending the event," he said. "We have been staggered by the response so far in the UK."

Richard Lewis, the Rugby Football League’s executive chairman who is vice-chairman of the International Federation, said the lessons of the last World Cup, which almost crippled the game in this country, had been learned in the planning for 2008.

"The scar left by the 2000 World Cup is there for all of us," he said.

"World Cups don’t automatically make a profit and that hasn’t been forgotten.

"There has been a lot of lessons learned from the last World Cup. A lot of the income is guaranteed now.

"It’s going to be an important landmark. The international game has the potential to grow significantly over a short space of time.

"The Tri-Nations has taken the international game up to a new level and next year’s World Cup will be a giant step.

"I think it will be a success, not just a financial success, but a good platform to showcase the sport at the highest level.

"There are a lot of broadcasters signing up to show the matches live in distant parts of the world, including the Middle East."

Australia will be overwhelming favourites to retain the trophy they have held since 1975 but Kangaroos Test centre Mark Gasnier, who flew in from Sydney for today’s launch, said he anticipated stiff competition from England and New Zealand.

"We have been challenged in ways we have not been challenged before," he said.

New Zealand captain Roy Asotasi, whose side were Tri-Nations champions just two years ago after a 24-0 defeat of Australia, insists the Kiwis will pick themselves up from their series defeat by Great Britain and will be competitive next year as they seek their first World Cup triumph.

"The Kiwi side is in a transitional period," he said.

"We are definitely building for the World Cup and it should be a different Kiwi outfit in 12 months’ time."

The RFL are bringing forward the end of next year’s Super League season in order to give England coach Tony Smith more time to prepare his side for the tournament.

In addition to a mid-season Test against France, Lewis said there were plans for a warm-up game before England leave for Australia.

Both Love and Lewis defended the controversial format of the tournament which gives the big three a clear pathway to the last four.

Three teams will progress from the "super pool" which comprises England, New Zealand, Australia and Papua New Guinea while the other seeded team, France, will battle it out with the five qualifiers for the other semi-final place.