7,500 Irish fans travelled to Rugby World Cup

NEW FIGURES suggest that the number of Irish supporters at the 2011 Rugby World Cup in New Zealand was not as large as the TV pictures suggested.

Almost 7,500 Irish rugby fans travelled to the world cup in New Zealand last month, according to official statistics.

Though the numbers are good when you consider the distance travelled and the poor state of the Irish economy, the figures are a long way off the 15,000 to 20,000 Irish fans estimated to have been at most of the Irish matches at the competition.

According to Statistics New Zealand, 7,431 visitors arrived for the world cup on Irish passports. Of those 3,981 came from Ireland. This is more than the 2,000 to 3,000 expected to travel before the tournament. An additional 586 Irish fans came from the UK and 576 lived in other countries.

The biggest overseas contingent of Irish came from Australia – some 2,228 fans travelled across the Tasman Sea. Many of these were recent Irish emigrants to Australia.

An additional 298 fans arrived from Ireland, but had passports from other countries.

The number of Irish fans in the stadium were boosted by some of the 12,000 Irish-born long-term residents of New Zealand and the 5,000 or so currently on short-term holiday visas or working visas.

The New Zealand fans also took to supporting Ireland after our famous victory over Australia in the pool stages.

Though Irish fans appeared to be the most conspicuous ones at the competition, there were not the most numerous.

Some 55,200 fans came from Australia, but only 34,000 of these were Australians. The rest were expatriates, including Irish.

A total of 19,100 visitors came from England, Scotland and Wales; 11,100 from France; 8,500 from South Africa; and 5,500 from the US.

There were also healthy contingents from Argentina (3,000), Japan (2,800) and Canada (2,800).

The organisers said they were delighted that 133,200 foreign visitors came for the world cup when a month prior to the tournament only 95,000 foreign visitors were expected.

“This is a fantastic result for New Zealand and the tournament,” said Shane Harmon, general manager of marketing and communications at Rugby New Zealand 2011 Ltd. “It is pleasing to see that the momentum continued in the lead into and during the world cup.”