The cup runneth over: The financial power of the Rugby World Cup

The Rugby World Cup is now a glitzy tournament transformed beyond recognition from its humble beginnings in 1987. But is it really as big and lucrative an event as its cheerleaders claim?

September 17, 2011. Eden Park, Auckland, New Zealand. Gordon D’Arcy is 11,289 miles from home, 70 minutes away from one of the biggest games of his career. This is cap 61 of an eventual 82 appearances he’ll make for Ireland, yet there’s something different about this one. From the moment he sees the green shirts hanging from the dressing-room pegs, to the few seconds he spends ambling down the tunnel, the sound of ...