Power guaranteed for cup says confident Snedden

New Zealand will not be embarrassed by power cuts to stadiums hosting Rugby World Cup games in 2011 as North Harbour Stadium was at the weekend, organisers have promised.

The stadium suffered a 45-minute power cut on Saturday night, four minutes into the Blues versus Reds game. It has no back-up generator.

Lines company Vector said a tree branch took out a high-voltage line. About 750 homes also lost power.

Rugby New Zealand 2011 chief executive Martin Snedden said his organisation had identified the potential problem six months ago and asked stadiums to ensure they had contingency plans should the lights go out.

"One or two said it will never happen. It's just a gentle reminder that disasters do happen. It would be embarrassing."

Venues hosting any matches from the quarter-finals onwards had contractual obligations to have a back-up power supply that was not dependent on the national grid, Mr Snedden said.

"The stadiums are right into this. The standards for the Rugby World Cup are significantly higher than for Super 14."

North Harbour will host three pool games during the tournament. Chief executive Brendon O'Connor did not return calls yesterday.