Crowe turns down Cup gig

New Zealand-born, Australian-raised league fanatic and hellraising actor Russell Crowe has turned down an offer to perform with his band at the World Rugby Cup's opening ceremony.

Although generally playing to tepid reviews from music critics, Crowe's 30 Odd Foot of Grunts was seen as a crowd-pleaser to perform the old David Bowie hit Heroes.

But Crowe's publicist, Wendy Day, told the Sydney Morning Herald that although the actor would have liked to have performed at the ceremony he could not fit it in with his other commitments.

"He just couldn't give it the time."

Meanwhile, the Australian Rugby Union has assembled a choir of 40 singers from the 20 competing nations to perform the cup's theme song - World in Union - and the national anthems at the opening ceremony.

They will then split up to sing their own national anthems at games around Australia.

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