It may not rival the furore surrounding Trevor Chappell's infamous underarm delivery to Brian McKechnie in 1981, but Trans-Tasman sporting rivalry intensified today with the confirmation that Australia will be the sole hosts of next year's rugby World Cup.
The International Rugby Board announced their decision at a meeting in Dublin, upholding the controversial move to axe New Zealand as co-hosts earlier this year.
"The outstanding Australian proposal held an attraction, a professionalism and a logic which were irresistible," said an IRB statement.
"Throughout its deliberations, the [IRB] Council has been acutely aware of the implications for rugby wherever it is played and remains sensitive to the impact of this decision upon the game in New Zealand, but it was left with no alternative.
"Generous accommodations made by RWCL to meet the needs and problems of the NZRFU were repaid with consistent failures and wholly inappropriate behaviour."
New Zealand were axed following a controversial debate over the provision of 'clean' stadiums for the event, free of pre-existing advertising. The NZRFU said they couldn't comply with the request, effectively forcing the IRB into embarrassingly postponing the launch of the competition in Sydney in February.
Tournament organisers had already been angered by the Kiwis' failure to move their domestic NPC Championship out of World Cup time, reluctantly agreeing to an overlap in the two competitions.
The IRB's stance continued to harden and when the ARU presented a revised schedule last month, it met with whole-hearted approval, leading to accusations of dirty tricks from New Zealand, who claimed their Tasman neighbours had engineered the situation for their own ends.
Intervention from New Zealand government ministers, including Prime Minister Helen Clark, failed to change the IRB's mind, leaving New Zealand to reflect on a public relations disaster which means rugby fans in the country will have no opportunity to see any matches in the tournament.
NZRFU chairman Murray McCaw is considering legal action.
"There is little doubt that relationships have been damaged as a result of these unhappy events," continued the IRB statement.
"The IRB now holds out the hope that all parties will accept the final outcome with dignity and that the truly international spirit which cements the sport will quickly heal any wounds."
