Heart to Hart

Edward Rooney takes a walk with our Guest Editor - a man with his head in The Cloud and his heart in the Rugby World Cup.

John Hart's the kind of guy who's always thinking of opportunities.

We walk through the front doors of The Cloud on Queens Wharf and I'm thinking something genius like "whoah" as I gaze around at the skeletal framework and pink sidelights.

John's off and away, talking about the different kinds of events which could be held in this cavernous space.

While I'm adjusting to the unsettling sense that I'm in the duodenum of an orca, John's calculating the space and comparing it to (what else?) rugby fields.

Our Guest Editor, John Hart is a rugby man through-and-through. Even the crushing defeat and hysterical fallout from his All Blacks at the 1999 Rugby World Cup hasn't turned him off the sport, or the team that he coached for 41 games: 31 wins, one draw and nine losses.

The Cloud is 175m long, and John relishes the challenge of guessing. "I said it was 176m, didn't I?" he insists, and I have to agree. We walk around the site. I'm careful not to disrupt the workers putting the final touches to the venue. John strides up to most of them, hand outstretched with an effusive: "How's it going? Great job you're doing here."

He has a right to be here, as acting chair of the Government-appointed NZ 2011 Group. He stepped up to the role after Christchurch Mayor Bob Parker was sidelined by earthquakes.

"The Government has said we don't get an opportunity like this event very often," John explains, "so Martin Snedden and Rugby World Cup will put on a great event but we also need to create opportunities and leverage off the event with a long-term view."

John breaks down the work of the NZ 2011 Group into three sections:

Business engagement and connecting companies through the rugby tournament

Community education programmes like adopt-a-second-teams for town centres and giving children a wider understanding of the world through school promotions

The Real New Zealand festival of about 1000 events along the length of the country to give audiences an immersive experience of our nation.

Amost every sentence is dotted with names of people he believes are doing a great job. John's largesse for crediting others seems infinite; he drops names and verbally pats backs constantly.

As he enthuses about the volunteers who will provide much of the manpower behind hosting the tournament, John talks up the hearts of New Zealanders. He's genuinely excited about how visitors will be "blown away" by our hospitality.

I'm getting an idea of how he motivated Auckland rugby players to dominate the national competition in the 1980s, and to a record 61 Ranfurly Shield defences. I'm not quite ready to die in a ditch for him yet though, so I ask whether wider Auckland is as enthusiastic about this cup as he is.

He stops and fixes me with a cold stare. "I've been disappointed with the negativity around Auckland," he states, "but I see that eroding away. Mayor Len Brown and the Auckland Tourism, Events and Economic Development have finally swung in behind it.

"Look," he continues, eyes softening, "Auckland will be the hub of the world cup now with the final, two quarterfinals, the semifinals and the pool games, I do think Auckland has been slow to grasp that.

"This is an opportunity we may never see again. This may be our only chance, an incredible chance, to showcase the city and attract more events.

"We've got to be positive and excited."

I persist playing devil's advocate and ask what else disappoints him about Auckland. He deflects the question and talks about playing golf in short-sleeved shirts in the middle of winter but I hold to my course of questioning and he finally allows he wishes we had a downtown sports venue.

"If we'd had a supercity years ago, we would have had a stadium on the waterfront."

John's preferred site was the old Carlaw Park property at the bottom of Parnell. "No one's heart is closer to Eden Park than mine. I coached Auckland rugby there for years. But a city comes alive when you have a stadium on the waterfront - just look anywhere in the world where there is one."

Instead, he notes without apparent regret, we have The Cloud. "I think the legacy we want to leave after the Rugby World Cup is a vibrant country and Auckland should be the most vibrant place. Why shouldn't The Cloud be part of an entertainment precinct that carries on?"

We stand, looking inland from Queens Wharf, straight up Queen St and suddenly, starkly, I realise the geographical placement of the site.

The wharf is a direct line from Queen St and adds another massive length to the famous Golden Mile, straight out into the harbour.

I comment on this and John concedes he doesn't venture into the city much these days; his life is centred around his Remuera home and office with partner Di. "It used to be the only place you thought about when shopping. Maybe that could come back too."

The white-grey clouds finally fracture and fissures of blue sky emerge. John breaks our silence. "I've got one concern," he says. "It's so important that we be great hosts. What was the phrase used when we won the bid to host the cup, 'a stadium of four million people'? We've got to be a stadium of four million great hosts.

"Look," he says, and I know by now he's about to say something serious, "I've seen how this country can turn on itself when we have. . . a failure. . . I saw that and I was part of that when it happened."

He's talking about the ghastly reaction across this nation when John and his All Blacks returned to New Zealand after unexpectedly losing to France 43-31 in the Twickenham semifinal of the 1999 Rugby World Cup.

I will myself to look straight at him. "It will be Auckland who hosts the semis and the finals," he continues. "I was here in 1987 and I've seen how we react to success and I've seen us missing out, I want us to be great hosts whatever happens. Say the All Blacks did happen to stumble, the last thing I would want is to have the world see us like that, to hear our talkback radio and our tearing ourselves apart. We need to be genuine, good hosts."

We walk around to Cin Cin on Quay for a coffee. John orders breakfast tea and we reminisce about how this restaurant was the place to be. It still looks like it is.

John claims to be semi-retired but the list of his current obligations would exhaust most, let alone a fellow turning 65 this year. He's on the board of Sky TV, Bayley's Real Estate, the Professional Golfers' Association. He's chairing a committee of representatives from The Hills and the NZPGA to look at organising a golf tournament at The Hills  and is on the committee appointing directors to SPARC. He follows his racehorses and has just got though a busy family time: adult children Kay and Chris both married this year, just six weeks apart.

I have to remind him about his consultancy work, public speaking and that he's also executive director of the Warriors. He slaps his forehead, laughing: "Of course, my main job!"

Relaxed now, in the near-empty restaurant, I confess I was at the 1987 cup final and he allows himself a deep and enjoyable laugh when I tell him I forgot my glasses and didn't see the game. His memories, as assistant coach on the day, centre very much around the match.

"I do remember New Zealanders got very excited about the national team. When we bussed from where we were staying in Takapuna, there were crowds at the hotel and along the roads to Eden Park. That was great, that's part of the great memory.

"You look at the time that happened, we'd just come through the ructions of the Springbok tour in 1981, then the events around the [unsanctioned] Cavaliers tour of South Africa in 1986. That '87 cup lifted us out of all that and there's something about this Rugby World Cup that can do that again.

"You look at Christchurch and all they've been through and the Pike River Mine, the devastation for all those families - New Zealanders need something to grab on to. And that's why I think this festival is going to be huge. People throughout the country can have fun.

"There's been a dark pall over us and it's been very sad but now we can all join in something together and celebrate."

Game on

Rugby World Cup matches to be played in Auckland are:

Friday Sept 9, 8.30pm New Zealand v Tonga, Eden Park

Saturday, Sept 10, 6pm France v Japan, North Harbour Stadium

Sunday, Sept 11, 3.30pm Australia v Italy, North Harbour Stadium

Saturday, Sept 17, 8.30pm Australia v Ireland, Eden Park

Thursday, Sept 22, 8pm South Africa v Namibia, North Harbour Stadium

Saturday, Sept 24, 8.30pm New Zealand v France, Eden Park

Sunday, Sept 25, 3.30pm Fiji v Samoa, Eden Park

Friday Sept 30, 8.30pm South Africa v Samoa, North Harbour Stadium

Saturday, Oct 1, 8.30pm England v Scotland, Eden Park

Saturday, Oct 8, 8.30pm Quarterfinal 2 Winner Pool B v Runner-up Pool A, Eden Park

Sunday, Oct 9, 8.30pm Quarterfinal 4 Winner Pool A v Runner-up Pool B, Eden Park

Saturday, Oct 15, 9pm Semifinal 1 Winner Quarterfinal 1 v Winner Quarterfinal 2, Eden Park

Sunday, Oct 16, 9pm Seminfinal 2 Winner Quarterfinal 3 v Winner Quarterfinal 4, Eden Park

Friday, Oct 21, 8.30pm Third-place match, Eden Park

Sunday, Oct 23, 9pm Final, Eden Park

For more info about events around Auckland during the tournament, see: www.auckland2011.com

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