When is rwc 2011 opening ceremony

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The showpiece event featured a stylized sequence in which a young boy in a rugby jersey smashed through crowds of would-be tacklers who fell at his feet like skittles. Explosive: Fireworks explode across the Auckland night sky to herald the launch of the World Cup.

The ceremony paid tribute to Maori creation myths, New Zealand's spectacular scenery and Auckland's obsession with sailing with dream-like sea sequences. It was spectacular by comparison with the low-budget opener featuring marching girls which was hastily put together for the first Rugby World Cup in , which New Zealand also hosted. Earlier in the day, about 50 performers blocked off one of Auckland's main streets to perform their flash mob haka.

A similar group entertained people on Wellington's waterfront. The surprise hakas have become an Internet sensation in recent weeks. Kia ora! The Kiwi's put on a dramatic show as they prepared to host the tournament for the second time. There were also hundreds of fans from Samoa and other Pacific nations cramming Auckland. Many Pacific leaders and dignitaries were already in town to attend the Pacific Islands Forum, which was timed to coincide with the cup.

I'm confident it's going to be a brilliant World Cup. The thousands of home fans were certainly not disappointed with the opening match that saw the All Blacks beat their Polynesian neighbours Tonga New Zealand ran in six tries to begin their quest for a first World Cup triumph in 24 years with victory over Tonga in the tournament opener at Eden Park.

Kahui, Sonny Bill Williams and Kaino were outstanding on the night but New Zealand's second-half performance did not match the incisiveness of the first 40 minutes. The stage is set: Hundreds of dancers were involved in the ceremony, watched by 60, fans at Eden Park.

Meanwhile dancers and singers, some dressed in traditional Maori attire, helped kick off the tournament. Other stylish celebrations during the flamboyant ceremony aimed to celebrate the game, as well as the Maori landscape and cultures of the Pacific. New Zealand also hosted the first ever Rigby World Cup in , and the lavish ceremony today was a far cry from the low-budget affair 24 years ago.

The stage is set: Hundreds of dancers were involved in the ceremony, watched by 60, fans at Eden Park. Dazzling show: A colourful lights show featuring more dancers helped establish a party atmosphere in Auckland. Cultural: the dazzling opening ceremony aimed to show the world about traditions in the Pacific and New Zealand.

Ethan Bai performs during the part of the ceremony which saw a youngster sprint down a rugby field through tackles. These stylish dancers added a classy touch to the opening ceremony proceedings in Auckland. In the center of Auckland, thousands of New Zealanders showed their national pride by waving flags draped in Kiwi colours in a display which brought traffic to a standstill in the afternoon. Cars came to a halt and blared their horns in Queen Street, Auckland's main thoroughfare, as fans hung out the windows screaming support for their national teams.

Flags hung from office and apartment windows as their occupants poured into the streets. But there was no way they could equal the foundation-shaking haka of earlier in the day. After a week of spine-tingling "flash mob" street haka , there were more haka throughout Friday, many more — most potently by Rotorua's Te Matarae i Orehu culture group, whose stadium-filling performance was the highlight of an event that ticked all the opening ceremony boxes: mesmerising, spectacular and at times a little mawkish.

The event, a thematic mix of Maori tradition and rugby heritage, focused around a massive circular screen stuck to the centre of the field.

It framed a torrent of images — animated Maori koru symbols became a sea of yachts, of distended hammerhead sharks. Then came an extended tracking shot through the landscape of New Zealand — the "stadium of four million" World Cup organisers boast of — that looked as though it might have been spliced together from Peter Jackson's Tolkien out-takes. Along the way, lava-like imagery hinted at the volcanic terrain upon which Auckland is built — in a country acutely aware of the seismic potential of its land.

The shadow of Christchurch — a city that remains very much in recovery mode after the massive earthquake of February — was more explicitly addressed in the red and black stripes of Ethan Bai, the schoolboy tasked with embodying the amateur roots of the game. A Billy Elliot on the left wing, Bai bounded about a miniature field, grasping a rugby ball half his size, fending off the challenges of a hundred or so burly blokes before being hoist 20 metres aloft.

Helpfully, the official script explained precisely what was going on.