FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

5th August 2009

41% Of Rugby Fans Prepared To Lose Now To Help Win World Cup

Given a choice, 53% of rugby fans want the All Blacks to win as many games as possible now while a surprisingly high 41% considered they should build towards the 2011 World Cup even if it means losing a few games.

These numbers suggest that there may be more tolerance to the double defeats in South Africa as long as these losses are perceived as building towards victory in 2011.

Older New Zealanders and New Zealanders living in provincial areas were the least likely to accept the trade-off of a few losses to help secure victory in 2011.

CORE OF CURRENT TEAM EXPECTED
TO TAKE THE FIELD IN 2011

UMR tested rugby fans’ views on which of the current players who will turn 30 prior to the final being held in 2011 will still be in the team.

Most rugby fans are confident that the current leading players will still be around. 82% expect McCaw to still be in the team, 79% Muliaina and 69% So’oialo. 61% expect Mealamu and Conrad Smith still to be there, 58% Ali Williams, 54% Tony Woodcock and 53% Andrew Hore. Rugby fans are least convinced about the longevity of Jimmy Cowan and Brad Thorn although 50% still expect them to be in the team.

STRONG SUPPORT FOR GRAHAM HENRY

64% of rugby fans supported the recent reappointment of Graham Henry as the All Black coach through to the 2011 World Cup with 28% opposed.

Fieldwork for this survey was undertaken over the weekend of the first test against the Wallabies so that support may have been tempered by the disappointing double defeat to South Africa.

Considerable care is needed given this small sub-sample (n=57) but it was unsurprising that support was lower amongst Cantabrians with 37% in favour of the Henry reappointment and 55% opposed.

INTEREST IN RUGBY DECLINING

In a very worrying result for the NZRU declared interest in rugby was at its lowest level in a UMR intermittent tracking series going back to 1993.

In total, 60% declared they were very or fairly interested in rugby. This has come down quite sharply since hitting 72% in November last year and is well below the peak of 79% reached during the 2003 World Cup.

This decline in interest in rugby is probably due to the usual identified suspects of disappointing All Black performances this year, too much rugby and the duller, more attritional brand of rugby served up to fans in recent years.

ends