2011 Rugby World Cup, New Zealand

It was the largest sporting event ever held in New Zealand, eclipsing the 1987 Rugby World Cup, 1990 Commonwealth Games, 1992 Cricket World Cup and the 2003 America's Cup. The organisers expected 95,000 visitors from overseas to travel to New Zealand for the event.
The games ran over six weeks starting on 9 September 2011. The final was played on Sunday 23 October 2011, a date chosen because it fell on a long weekend caused by the New Zealand public holiday of Labour Day (Monday, 24 October 2011). The final was played at Eden Park in Auckland.
After speculation that the number of participating teams would be reduced to 16, the IRB announced on 30 November 2007 that the 2011 tournament would again feature 20 teams. Twelve teams qualified as a result of finishing in the top three in each pool in the 2007 tournament. The remaining eight berths were determined by regional qualifying tournaments. Of the 20 countries that competed in the previous World Cup in 2007, there was only one change – Russia replaced Portugal.