IRB deny setting Monday deadline
March 1, 2002

The IRB has denied that New Zealand had been issued a strict Monday deadline to reply to Rugby World Cup (RWC) Ltd's compromise offerings for staging the 2003 World Cup.

The Times reported yesterday that New Zealand had been given a Monday deadline to agree to terms or face the possibility of being stripped of its part in co-hosting the World Cup with Australia.

The IRB media manager Chris Rea, said in Wellington today there was no such precise deadline, but he admitted RWC would appreciate the New Zealand Rugby Football Union (NZRFU) making up its mind as quickly as possible.

RWC's latest offerings in the dispute over whether New Zealand can run its national provincial championship (NPC) in conjunction with the Cup included a concession that the overlap could be 10 days, allowing the NPC semifinals and final to be played during the Cup, providing these matches are at non-Cup venues.

NZRFU chief executive David Rutherford yesterday conceded the compromise offering had merit and said his staff were working through it as rapidly as possible.

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