Skip to main content

Story: Sport and the nation

Opening ceremony for the 2011 Rugby World Cup

Image
Opening ceremony for the 2011 Rugby World Cup

The opening ceremony for the Rugby World Cup at Eden Park, Auckland, on 9 September 2011, featured a Māori warrior blowing a pūkāea (trumpet). The ceremony was an impressive multi-media display which drew heavily on Māori traditions.

Using this item

New Zealand Herald

Reference: 090911NZHBPRWC154.JPG

by Brett Phibbs

Permission of the New Zealand Herald must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

All images & media in this story

How to cite this page

Jock Phillips, Sport and the nation – Sport and creative culture, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/41226/opening-ceremony-for-the-2011-rugby-world-cup (accessed 4 June 2026).

Story by Jock Phillips, published 26 March 2013.