A rugby miscellany
Moody could be fined
ENGLAND captain Lewis Moody will be fined €5,476 if he is found to have worn a branded mouthguard in Saturday’s Rugby World Cup quarter-final defeat by France, the IRB have said.
Tournament officials are very strict on any breaches of the commercial regulations and they have already fined Moody’s England team-mate Manu Tuilagi and the latter’s brother Alesana Tuilagi, who plays for Samoa.
An International Rugby Board representative confirmed Moody would be hit with the same standard fine if the allegation is proven.
An English Rugby Football Union spokesman said England, who returned home from New Zealand yesterday, had not yet received any communication on the matter from the IRB.
Sweating: waiting on Beale
AUSTRALIA are sweating over the fitness of star fullback Kurtley Beale ahead of Sunday’s Rugby World Cup semi-final against trans-Tasman rivals New Zealand.
Beale is rated as “touch and go” by the Wallabies after he suffered a hamstring strain in the dying minutes of Australia’s 11-9 quarter-final victory over defending champions South Africa.
“He’ll be a massive loss for us because Kurtley provides so much to the team, not only in attack but just in the mood and excitement of the group,” said Wallabies centre Adam Ashley-Cooper.
“We certainly have our fingers crossed for Kurtley.”
Ashley-Cooper has played centre, wing and fullback for the Wallabies and has said he would relish the opportunity to switch positions if called upon.
On target: Organisers breathe sigh of relief as ticket revenue targets are within reach
WORLD Cup organisers breathed a sigh of relief yesterday with their target for ticket revenue within touching distance with four matches left.
Organisers said they had now achieved 99 per cent of their ticket revenue target, having sold €151.8 million worth of tickets.
They had a targeted revenue of €153.5 million to achieve a €22.3 million loss on the tournament. About 1.35 million tickets have been sold.
Tournament organisers are only allowed to keep revenue from ticket sales and have to pay a hosting fee to the International Rugby Board and cover the costs of the tournament – about €177.5 million in total.
The operating loss is being underwritten by the New Zealand government and New Zealand Rugby Union. “The way New Zealanders have embraced this event has been fantastic and we are thrilled to be in this position given the challenges we have faced,” Rugby New Zealand (RNZ) 2011 chief executive Martin Snedden said.
About 7,000 tickets are still available for the first semi-final between Wales and France, organisers said. Category A tickets cost €456, while Category D are €170.
Allocations for the second semi-final between New Zealand and Australia are currently exhausted, but a few hundred additional tickets were expected to be released later in the week.
“Now that the four semi-finalists have been confirmed we expect strong demand for remaining tickets over coming days,” RNZ 2011 general manager for marketing and communications Shane Harmon said.
