Fifteenth International Conference on Sport & Society

Abstract

The hosting of the 2003 Rugby World Cup (RWC), following closely after the Sydney Olympics, provided a great opportunity for researchers to continue examining how mega-events impact host communities. The RWC had grown significantly since first staged in 1987. Whilst not as large as the Olympic Games the size of the event was substantial given 1.9 million tickets were sold for the 48 matches that were played around Australia. The paper considers interview data and then presents a new expanded dataset that includes an analysis of rugby participation for the years 2001-2012. Within the analysis, data is examined on school, junior, men’s, and women’s rugby participation. Managers responsible for the development of rugby across Australia were interviewed for the study. The interviews examined the impact hosting the 2003 RWC had on rugby participation, especially the change in 2004, the first season to be played after the event was staged. The interview data shows that the event increased the profile of the sport in Australia. This was especially the case in the non-rugby states that historically have been associated with the sport of Australian Rules Football. While the increased profile of rugby was outlined as being very important so too were the development programs that were put in place by the Australian Rugby Union in the lead up to the event. From the data analysis four themes emerged: the importance of development programs; the impact of funding; the profile generated for rugby by the event; and the consequences of event timing.