Invercargill Licensing Trust puts $100k towards All Blacks test bid

Friday, 26 July 2019

All Blacks lock Brodie Retallick runs with the ball to score a try during a rugby championship match in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

The Invercargill Licensing Trust has committed $100,000 to the quest to bring an All Blacks test to the city as those behind the bid now await a New Zealand Rugby decision.

ILT board member Sean Bellew initially floated the idea to try to bring an All Black match to Invercargill in 2020.

Invercargill Licensing Trust chief executive Chris Ramsay.

The idea was to tie an All Blacks test into a festival which would showcase Southland produce.

Last year Rugby Southland chief executive Brian Hopley took on the lead role of further investigating the prospect of a test match.

* Invercargill City Council to mull All Black test match bid

* Southland leaders to discuss potential All Blacks test bid**

Hopley engaged with various potential funders and put together what was described as a compelling bid for New Zealand Rugby to consider.

A decision is expected next month.

The Invercargill City Council has previously confirmed it would put $90,000 towards the potential test match.

The events committee voted to allocate $90,000 from the events budget, which will be split into $45,000 each year during the next two years.

Community Trust South has also indicated it would back the bid with private businesses expected to also come on board if New Zealand Rugby was to allocate Invercargill a test.

The ILT board has since voted to put $100,000 towards attracting a test match to Invercargill.

ILT chief executive Chris Ramsay said it had done its due diligence before committing the $100,000.

It included meeting with Tasman Rugby Union officials who attracted a test match to Nelson last year.

Ramsay said the Tasman representatives outlined its robust model and the obvious benefits such a big event brought to the region.

Ramsay added that the ILT had a proven track record in teaming up with other Invercargill parties to bring successful events to the city and he viewed the All Blacks test as another opportunity to do just that.

He pointed to the Joseph Parker boxing bout in 2015 where the ILT, Community Trust South, Venture Southland, and Invercargill City Council joined together to come up with a $200,000 fund to get the event to Stadium Southland.

'Obviously we are always keen to play our part in getting these events to Invercargill. For a city of 50,000 I think we do very well.'

Ramsay hoped New Zealand Rugby would view bringing an All Blacks test to a place like Invercargill as a way to support rugby in the regions.

The ILT and New Zealand Rugby itself are the biggest funders of rugby in Southland.

Hopley said the ILT backing, along with the other support gathered for the test bid, was appreciated.

He said it was now a matter of waiting for a decision from New Zealand Rugby.

Initially, the quest was to try to bring a test to Invercargill next year, although Hopley conceded 2021 was now being viewed as a better prospect.

One stumbling block in front of Invercargill's bid for an All Black test could be the state of Rugby Park.

Hopley said they could increase the capacity of Rugby Park to 23,000 with temporary seating.

However, the Rugby Southland offices and Southland Supporters Club clubrooms at Rugby Park were currently off-limits after toxic mould was found.

New Zealand Rugby would probably require those spaces if a test match was to be held at Rugby Park.

The council's $90,000 contribution came with a condition which stated that Rugby Park was up to the required test match standard as it was and the council would not be required to put further money into it.

Hopley said until they had a decision from New Zealand Rugby he was unsure what would be required.