Give Rugby World Cup 100%, Kiwis told

Waikato kids pose with the Webb Ellis trophy at an event marking two years until the Rugby World Cup. Photo / NZPA

New Zealanders are being urged to run with the ball so the country can score big at the Rugby World Cup 2011.

While the All Blacks will be looking to redeem themselves by winning the Cup, the rest of New Zealand also needs to "give it 100 per cent", Rugby World Cup Minister Murray McCully said today.

The opening match between New Zealand and Tonga is two years away today.

The World Cup will be the biggest event ever held in this country, Mr McCully told a gathering to celebrate the two-year mark at Parliament today.

"The Cup will inject over $500 million into the economy, with around half of that going into Auckland.

"It will also attract over 60,000 international visitors and a global television audience of over four billion," he said.

New Zealanders would become a "nation of four million hosts", and a festival and showcase programme would show visitors and the world what the country has to offer.

The "Give it 100 per cent" slogan is based on tourism's 100 per cent Pure New Zealand campaign.

"New Zealand will be in the international spotlight like never before, and we will be ready," Mr McCully said.

The New Zealand 2011 Office will develop volunteer programmes.

Rugby World Cup 2011 chief executive Martin Snedden said organisation was the "number one priority" for the event.

"While there is still much to do, the level of cooperation across the country has been unprecedented.

"There is a real desire to not just get this right, but to be exceptional."

Prices for tickets to the 48 matches would be revealed in November, Snedden said.

The original forecast was for a $30 million loss and while that figure was now under pressure, any increase on that would not be a blowout, given the tournament had a budget of $300 million, he told Radio NZ.

Stadiums in Auckland, Christchurch, Dunedin, Napier, Whangarei, Nelson and New Plymouth are being revamped, with Dunedin's new stadium the only one that will go to the wire, he said.

If it is not completed, the games allotted to Dunedin will be played at Carisbrook, he said.

Wellington City Council today unveiled a clock on the NZX building today, counting down the days to the start of the tournament.

- NZPA