
Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch will each host five pool matches during the 2011 Rugby World Cup, it was revealed today. It was also announced that the final and semi-finals will not kick-off until 9pm. The announcement was made at Eden Park this afternoon with Rugby New Zealand 2011 chief executive Martin Snedden confirming the 40 pool matches will be spread across 13 venues. North Shore, Hamilton, New Plymouth, Rotorua and Dunedin will each host three matches, while Whangarei, Nelson, Palmerston North, Napier and Invercargill have been given two matches each. Cities that failed to win pool games were Tauranga and Queenstown. Auckland's Mt Smart Stadium was also unsuccessful. However, the big winner was Eden Park which was awarded the opening match between the All Blacks and Tonga on September 9 and the much anticipated clash between the home side and France two weeks later. The All Blacks will also take games to Hamilton (September 16) and Wellington (October 2) against qualifying teams from Asia and the Americas respectively. Advertisement Advertisement The quarter-final match-ups were also confirmed, with the top two teams in Pool A (featuring currently qualified teams New Zealand, France and Tonga) and Pool B (featuring Argentina, England and Scotland) playing off in Christchurch. Wellington will host quarter-finals featuring the winners and runners-up from Pool C (featuring Australia, Ireland and Italy) and Pool D (featuring South Africa, Wales and Fiji). The <b>...</b>
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