Vancouver provides Rugby World Cup lessons

JOHN SELKIRK/Dominion Post

LEARNING LESSONS: Martin Snedden believes the Vancouver Winter Olympics offered New Zealand several lessons in how o run the 2011 Rugby World Cup.

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OPINION: Bob Woolmer had an eventful and successful life in international cricket. He was a talented player and coach. I remember him well for his passion for the game and his willingness to freely share his vast knowledge and experience.

But he will be most remembered for the bizarre circumstances surrounding his death in Jamaica on 18 March 2007.

Earlier that fateful day, Pakistan, the team Bob was coaching in the Cricket World Cup (CWC) 2007 tournament, had been sensationally eliminated as a result of an unbelievable loss to cricketing minnow Ireland. In rugby terms, it was like Japan eliminating the All Blacks from a Rugby World Cup.

Within two days of Bob's death, local police claimed the death was caused by "manual strangulation", in other words murder.

Almost immediately, media speculated that the Pakistan team had thrown the game and that Bob had been murdered possibly by Indian book-makers, angry at their massive betting losses caused by the upset loss.

Three months later, the Jamaican police surprisingly announced that Bob had died of a heart attack with no suspicious circumstances. Death is bad enough at the best of times. But when it occurs to a participant just when the world is focused on that event, then the impact can be enormously destructive.

The CWC 2007 had already been struggling before Bob's demise. But his death, and the police bungling, robbed the event of any chance people would leave with fond memories.

So when I heard the news of the death of Georgian luge competitor, Nodar Kumaritashvili, in a training accident the day before the opening of the Vancouver Winter Olympics, my mind immediately went back to the Woolmer death. It looked possible  that these Olympics would, like CWC 2007, be doomed for certain failure.

A series of operational problems over the following  days further compounded the organiser's  problems. Some media started  calling it "the Calamity Games".

But then, slowly the event began fighting back.

First, visitors began to notice strong support from locals. Day after day, night after night, thousands went out to the events and into the city centre, determined to enjoy themselves and be great hosts. 

Second, the Canadian team began winning gold medals, lots.

The risk of their own team performing poorly had been a huge worry for Canadians. They were only too aware that they had won no gold medals at the 1976 Montreal Summer Olympics and the 1988 Calgary Winter Olympics.

This time round, nothing was left to chance and $100 million was invested in the host country's "Own the Podium" programme. The sole objective – head the overall medal count. The end result – a record 14 gold medals, first place in the gold medal table, culminating with the home team's victory over arch-rivals USA in a pulsating ice hockey final.

Not surprisingly, this stunning recovery by the home team during the second week of the Games sparked a wave of euphoria across Canada.

But was this all too late?

In the end, I think it's likely the best that Canadians can hope for will be a "conditional success" rating, even though by the event's end many were describing it as "the Comeback Games".

So, the key lessons for New Zealand's hosting of Rugby World Cup 2011?

First, Vancouver has further strengthened our view that the attitude of the New Zealand people as a whole will have the most critical influence on how our event is judged. Hence the success of our "Stadium of Four Million" strategy is absolutely vital

Second, whilst we will undoubtedly give the All Blacks huge home town support, at the same time we must never allow this to negatively impact on the quality of the hosting experience we provide to the other 19 participating teams and to our estimated 60-70,000 visitors. There is a hosting balance there which we must find right from the start and we must hold this balance throughout, regardless of the fortunes of our team.

Third, our operational preparations must be  meticulous in every respect. Every failing will be highlighted so we need to make sure we don't make any serious mistakes and that if Plan A fails then Plan B must be ready to kick in without delay.

We've got 545 days to go before our turn in the spotlight arrives. We are going to have to make sure that every one of those days is made to count as we strive together as a nation to be ready to greet the world.

* Martin Snedden is chief executive of Rugby New Zealand 2011

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