The New Zealand Herald looks back over 2011 when two events transformed the landscape and history of the country.
When the year began we looked forward to quite a different event dominating 2011 and, in its own way, it did. Our editorial on New Year's Day anticipated the Rugby World Cup with trepidation. We thought the "stadium of four million" ambitious "because New Zealand is not quite the rustic, rugby-mad land the slogan suggests. Most of its people live in cities and many of them dislike rugby and all it represents. Of those who do follow the game," we said, "the vast majority are interested only in the fortunes of the All Blacks."
How wrong that proved to be. New Zealanders turned out to be everything the Rugby Union promised when it gained the right to host the event, and everything Martin Snedden's organisation had trusted them to be when it spread the matches around the country.
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