{"id":615950,"date":"2026-09-30T03:10:09","date_gmt":"2026-09-30T03:10:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/615950\/"},"modified":"2026-09-30T03:10:09","modified_gmt":"2026-09-30T03:10:09","slug":"rotorua-leaders-disappointed-after-oceania-rugby-7s-cup-cancelled","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/615950\/","title":{"rendered":"Rotorua leaders disappointed after Oceania Rugby 7s Cup cancelled"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cDespite significant efforts to secure the resources required to stage the tournament, Oceania Rugby has determined that it cannot deliver the event to the standard expected by participating teams and hosting partners.\u201d<\/p>\n

The organisation said stakeholder funding commitments, including support from World Rugby, had been met but Oceania Rugby was unable to satisfy its own funding<\/a> requirements within the available timeframe.<\/p>\n

Rotorua Mayor Tania Tapsell said Rotorua would have been a great place to host the Oceania Rugby 7s<\/a> Cup.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe news that this event needed to be cancelled was disappointing because we\u2019ve had such great support and exposure for our sevens players lately.<\/p>\n

\"RotoruaRotorua Mayor Tania Tapsell. Photo \/ Laura Smith<\/p>\n

\u201cI really feel for Oceania Rugby having to make this difficult decision.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tapsell said she was excited to have teams, supporters and officials visit the region and enjoy its \u201cworld-class\u201d sporting and events destination.<\/p>\n

But she was \u201chopeful\u201d the region could find other opportunities to host tournaments and would welcome conversations about bringing similar events to Rotorua in the future.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a strong reputation for successfully hosting major events and we remain committed to attracting and delivering economic and community benefits through them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Oceania Rugby also thanked RotoruaNZ, local partners and community stakeholders for their support and said it would welcome Rotorua\u2019s consideration as a future host.<\/p>\n

No host has yet been selected for the 2027 Oceania Rugby 7s tournament.<\/p>\n

RotoruaNZ head of commercial Sam Hulton said the organisation was formally advised on September 25 that the 2026 Oceania Rugby 7s Cup would not proceed.<\/p>\n

\"TheThe Oceania Rugby 7s Cup was set to be held at Rotorua International Stadium. Photo \/ NZME<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had been working with Oceania Rugby and local partners on preparations for the tournament.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hulton said as the host destination partner, RotoruaNZ supported local co-ordination, destination marketing and connections with accommodation providers and suppliers.<\/p>\n

He said Oceania Rugby was responsible for organising and delivering the event.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe tournament was expected to bring visiting teams, officials and supporters to Rotorua, benefiting local businesses. <\/p>\n

\u201cA final economic impact forecast had not been confirmed before the cancellation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hulton said RotoruaNZ had expressed interest in exploring the possibility of hosting the tournament in 2027.<\/p>\n

\u201cAny future involvement would be considered following further discussions with Oceania Rugby.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kaitlyn Morrell<\/a> is a journalist for the Bay of Plenty Times and Rotorua Daily Post. She has lived in the region for several years and studied journalism at Massey University.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cDespite significant efforts to secure the resources required to stage the tournament, Oceania Rugby has determined that it…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":615951,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[105180,74,20703,10542,45212,26477,111,139,69,2659,1327,6327,213],"class_list":["post-615950","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-7s","tag-after","tag-cancelled","tag-cup","tag-disappointed","tag-leaders","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-oceania","tag-rotorua","tag-rugby","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/615950","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=615950"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/615950\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/615951"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=615950"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=615950"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=615950"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}