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Living With The Lions Sports Travel

2011 Rugby World Cup - Christchurch Update

Rugby New Zealand 2011 have now announced the revised schedule for the 5 pool matches that were due to take place in Christchurch before the earthquake struck in February. Living With The Lions Sports Travel are close to finalising our revised packages for the 2011 Rugby World Cup based upon this new information and will release our updated brochure next week.

The revised games are as follows:

Sat 10 Sep England v Georgia Otago Stadium, Dunedin

Wed 14 Sep Scotland v Georgia Moved from Dunedin to Invercargill

Sun 18 Sep England v Georgia Otago Stadium, Dunedin

Sun 25 Sep Argentina v Scotland Wellington Regional Stadium, Wellington

Sat 8 Oct Quarter Final 2 Eden Park, Auckland

Sun 9 Oct Quarter Final 4 Eden Park, Auckland

We are already in contact with those that have already booked regarding the changes resulting from the situation in Christchurch.

Rugby World Cup 2011 Tournament partners have today reluctantly decided that Christchurch will be unable to host the seven matches scheduled to be played at Stadium Christchurch and these will be rescheduled to be played at other venues in New Zealand.

The decision was unanimously supported by Tournament owners the International Rugby Board, the New Zealand Government, the New Zealand Rugby Union (NZRU) and Tournament organiser Rugby New Zealand 2011 (RNZ 2011).

This follows a detailed review of reports assessing damage to key Tournament facilities and infrastructure caused by the devastating 6.3 magnitude earthquake that struck the city on February 22 and advice from the stadium operator, Vbase that it could not provide an absolute assurance that all necessary remedial work could be completed in time for RWC 2011.

International Rugby Board Chairman Bernard Lapasset travelled to Christchurch for today’s announcement.

“Yesterday we were informed by Stadium Christchurch operator Vbase that it could not guarantee that the extensive repairs required for both the stadium structures and the playing surface could be completed in time. That information means that Tournament partners have been left with no choice but to make the difficult decision to reallocate the seven matches due to be played in Christchurch.

“This has been a hard decision for all involved, given the place of Canterbury in New Zealand Rugby and the tremendous enthusiasm and support that the people of Christchurch have displayed for RWC 2011. The thoughts of the global Rugby family continue to be with the people of Christchurch and everyone affected as they focus on the city’s rebuilding process and repair of key public services and facilities.”

Ticket purchasers for all Christchurch matches will be offered the option of a refund or the opportunity to secure tickets to the relevant reallocated matches. RNZ 2011 has confirmed there will be sufficient availability of tickets to rescheduled matches for those wanting to take up that option. Full details will be provided by the end of March.

Vbase has indicated that the repair timeframes are so tight there would be no leeway for work delays or for any risks. This prevents Vbase giving assurances that it can meet its RWC 2011 obligations.

Among the “risks” identified by Vbase:

• Ongoing investigation required that might reveal the need for further work in relation to structures and playing surface
• Complexity of a work programme that includes superficial and structural repairs and full replacement of the playing surface
• Availability of resources (labour, material and equipment) and timeliness of securing consents
• Aftershocks that might impact on the work programme

“We know Cantabrians are passionate about Rugby and we know that many wanted the matches to remain as a way to unite and heal their shattered city,” said RNZ 2011 Chairman Brian Roche.

“However, we needed to weigh up the risks of continuing with matches in Christchurch with just 25 weeks to kick-off to the world’s third largest sporting event. Sadly, we collectively agreed the risks were too great. The timeframes for repairs were too tight, the uncertainty too much.”

NZRU CEO and RNZ 2011 director Steve Tew said: “Our hearts go out to Canterbury fans today given the inevitable disappointment this decision will cause for many.”

“Tournament partners are looking into a number of initiatives that will give Cantabrians a chance to be part of our Stadium of Four Million. We still want them to play a part in hosting a successful Tournament and to share in the excitement of this event.”

Contingency planning is at an advanced stage, but the process of allocation of matches is complex with many factors to consider, including accommodation, transport and broadcast logistics.

Eden Park is confirmed as the venue for the quarter-finals of October 8 and 9 and a decision regarding where the five pool matches will now be played will be taken jointly by the Tournament’s partners as soon as feasibly possible, likely before the end of March.

“Eden Park was the only logical alternative to stage two of the Tournament’s premier matches given the ground capacity and visitor accommodation demands associated with these quarter-final matches,,” said RNZ 2011 CEO Martin Snedden.

“We are working hard to ensure as many pool matches as reasonably possible remain in the South Island. A key consideration in all of this is to reschedule matches in a way that minimises the impact on other matches and therefore causes the least disruption to existing arrangements for teams and travelling.

“We appreciate this is a time of great uncertainty for fans which is why we are trying to resolve all issues as quickly as possible.

“We are enormously grateful for the support of all our partners in New Zealand during this difficult process and in particular the strenuous efforts by Vbase in attempting to meet our requirements.”

As the football world cup gets under way this weekend in South Africa this weekend the world will be watching with interest to see mainly how the country copes with the tens of thousands of football supporters descending on their beautiful country. I truly hope its an enormous success that galvanises the country to go on to bigger and greater things as it really is an great place to visit. I believe it will show to the world that it can organise, build and successfully manage such a prestigious event; but it will have been let down by the over greedy governing body, in this case FIFA or its tournament spin-off, MATCH. It is MATCH that centrally controlled virtually all of the accommodation available in South Africa promising hoteliers full rooms for a month or more at high prices. However it is also MATCH that has been releasing in some cases as much at 70% of the rooms unsold with only weeks to go before the tournament having failed to fill them at prices sometimes three times higher as the high season prices. To take this to conclusion, UK based official agents like Thomas Cook for instance ended up offering 5 night packages to see England play USA for £2500 which they later reduced to £970 just to get some adequate take up. Similarly, Events International trip to the World Cup Final is reduced from £7999 to £4999 this weekend, some saving! We arent so active in football but the Rugby World Cup is in severe danger of heading in the same direction, putting off willing travellers or pushing them towards doing it themselves - indeed why wouldnt you faced with these prices? A 3 week trip with England Rugby Travel to see the quarters through to the final currently costs over £8000 per person (plus tickets)! We sold this same holiday to Australia in 2003 (when England were somewhat better than they are now) for less than £3000 plus the cost of the match tickets. Aren’t we supposed to be emerging from a global recession? Hotels we are talking to either think they are full because the official agents have placed bookings with them or are charging between 4 times and in one case 8 times their normal prices. I don’t blame anyone for trying to do make a little bit of profit but it just seems to have got completely out of hand.

We would rather not be involved in offering packages at such incredibly high prices and we beilive that prices will only fall over time. We are using our contacts to come up with some alternatives as best we can at prices we are more comfortable with, otherwise we will actually advise keen rugby fans to just hold off and see what happens. To me, prices for this trip will go only one way - down. We hope to offer our supporters packages sub-£4000 that will enable fans to follow their country for up to 17 nights whilst still enjoying the camaradary that goes with a great tour like this. Watch this space for more news…..

Its early days at the moment but there is talk of an LWTL 2009 Lions reunion taking place before the Wales v England game on Friday 4 February, 2011. Watch this space for more news, but if all goes well there will be a pre-match party before the game and hopefully maybe even a game to watch! Rob Jones and John Bentley have both offered to dust off their boots so at this stage, anything looks possible!

Once again the Hong Kong Sevens proves to be a successful and fun weekend for Living With The Lions! With 50+ clients out in Hong Kong there was much laughter and as always a lot of drinking involved.

Everyone seemed in high spirits on their arrival in to the Metropark on the Thursday evening and shortly after check-in we were all in the hotel bar enjoying a drink or two and planning social and sightseeing events for the weekend.

A few clients were up early the next morning for some city sightseeing where as others flew over to Macau by helicopter for an afternoon in the casinos!

John Bentley was in Carnegies on Friday evening with us for a couple of hours and there was a fair bit of drinking going on (and dancing on the bar!).  Carnegies is one of the lively bars in Wan Chai with good cheesy dancing music.  It seems to be a favourite haunt for Living With The Lions clients (and staff!)

The Rugby Sevens tournament was full of exciting games and the finalie firework display at the end was spectacular and everyone is always on a high taking in every last minute of the atmosphere and not wanting it to end!

Rachel Barber has just got back from a trip to France to look at prospective Training Camps for our Clubs & School groups. She visited three in total - the first at Le Temple Sur Lot is set in a stunning location nestled amongst the fruit orchards on the banks of the River Lot and the facilities are superb particularly for rowing clubs or sports teams wanting to tie in some pre-season training with friendly fixtures and other interesting activities such as kayaking, beach volleyball or dragon boat racing! For something really special guests can stay in a chateau dating back to the Crusades, and experience a real French experience.

After le Temple, Rachel continued on to Vichy and visited the sports facilities there. Home to the local basketball team, with 10 football/rugby pitches on site as well as gyms, sports halls, indoor bowls, tennis and an athletics track there is something literally for all sporting disciplines. Located over the river from the city centre (and 20/30 mins walk from the town’s chic bars and restaurants) Vichy is a great location for a club side or pre-season tour.

Finally the inspection trip ended in the pretty little village of Meymac, deep in the Limousin countryside. This typically French location is home to Club Correze, a rugby & activity sports centre run by the Spanish national rugby coach, Ged Glynn and his wife Clare.

A mix of a PGL adventure holiday and rugby traning camp - Club Correze draws on the magnificent scenery and Ged’s rugby expertise to produce a truly unique product. Local fixtures, training sessions, mountain biking, sailing, archery, abseiling and high ropes courses are all available as well as team building activities and a programme of things to do in the evenings.

The trip was worthwhile and offers our clubs and schools something a little bit different as an alternative to a long-haul tour.

 View of the Temple Sur Lot training centre

Le Temple Sur Lot - stay in a chateau

Club Correze

High Ropes course - Club Correze

Rugby fans in South Africa are more than delighted to see the South Africa 2009 Lions Series. The 70,000 tickets for the event have already gone on sale and are expected to sell out.

The tickets, which have been on sale since 23rd February 2009, were a part of the 2nd phase of the much awaited series. The tickets are available for seven out of the ten matches to be held.

It was a great chance for season ticket and suite ticket holders, as they got a preference in the 1st phase, as a reward for their loyalty. The tickets would be limited as they have already been committed to other stakeholders.

Nearly 30,000 tickets would be up for grabs for the Coastal XV match on 16 June in Port Elizabeth, after confirmation of the seating configuration at the Nelson Bay Mandela Stadium.

There are 2,500 test match tickets available for the 3rd test in Johannesburg at the Coca Cola Park, but the demand is so high, especially in smaller stadiums that only hospitality packages are available.

More than 50,000 Irish and British visitors are expected for the rugby tour, for which the Lions get only 11,000 tickets for every Test, leading to a further increase in demand.

If you are a huge rugby fan, then you simply cannot miss a rugby tour of Argentina, the land of rugby lovers. Several international rugby stars from Argentina have followers all over the world, which is why tourists take time to see them.

With a great ranking in the International Rugby Board World Rankings, Argentina boasts of talented players that can surprise the best.

Argentina has some real talented rugby players like Agustin Pichot and Felipe Contepomi, who have brought pride and passion to the national team. Argentina is a destination that every rugby follower and sports fanatic will love, which is why the number of rugby tours has only increased.

The destination is an absolute delight for tourists as there are plenty of activities to choose from. From the climate to the cuisine, everything about Argentina is interesting and different. The barbecue or asado is a lip smacking delicacy and is extremely popular in Argentina. In fact, barbecues are like a ritual and the residents take great pride in them.

Even the cost of living is quite affordable and trendy restaurants, leather goods and rugby games are all activities every tourist can enjoy easily. So kick your worries into touch and get yourself to Argentina next time there’s a tour.