Rugby: Deal sealed on Cup silver fern

Volunteers at the Rugby World Cup will now have the silver fern on their chest just like the All Blacks after the Government chalked up a victory of sorts over the International Rugby Board.

The IRB has ceded to the Rugby World Cup Minister's wish to have the silver fern emblem on the World Cup volunteers' uniform.

The silver fern will only be small, but it will be on the left chest - the same place as it is for the All Blacks.

The IRB's symbol will be on the right side of the shirts. A spokesman for Mr McCully yesterday said it was a "compromise".

Mr McCully has insisted the silver fern be added to help promote New Zealand, but the IRB resisted because of the fern's strong association with the All Blacks.

The standoff over the fern had thrown the World Cup's volunteer programme into disarray, with the Government and the IRB both promoting separate programmes.

Mr McCully's spokesman said there would now just be one.

A deal with the IRB on the free-to-air rights for the Rugby World Cup is expected to be signed this week.