Atlanta was one of nine U.S. and Canadian cities selected to recruit business people to attend Rugby World Cup 2003 in Australia from Oct. 10-Nov. 22, David Nucifora, ambassador for the Rugby Business Club Australia told GlobalFax at a luncheon at103 West in Buckhead last week.

 “We will match people in advance of the event with like-minded businesses and make sure they connect at individual activities,” Mr. Nucifora, who is also head coach of the Brumbies, one Australia’s professional rugby teams added. “ We want them to have a good time and to develop worthwhile business.”

Eight other cities on his North American tour included Chicago, Houston, New York, Ottawa, San Francisco, Toronto, Vancouver, British Columbia, and Washington.

The business model for RBCA came from the Business Club Australia developed for the Sydney Olympics 2000. The Olympic model scheduled more than 100 business activities and generated more than $1 billion worth of business in Sydney. Many of the same personnel will be involved in RBCA.

The Australian government is using the Rugby Business Club Australia to promote business at the Rugby World Cup 2003, the way Georgia used the Operation Legacy, after the 1996 Olympics. According to Robin Spratlin, a member of the Georgia partnership from Georgia Power, 42 new businesses and 6,600 jobs were created.

The Georgia initiative, a public-private partnership, targeted industry sectors prior to the Olympics and selected the most promising prospects to return during the event. The prospects were encouraged to stay an extra day after the Games so local business executives could host them in individual communities.

RBCA organizes events and networking activities leading up to and during the Cup. There will be 48 tournament matches being played in 13 locations throughout Australia. Among the countries represented

are Argentina, Canada, England, France, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, Scotland, South Africa, and the United States.

Mr. Nucifora, a member of the winning Australian team in 1991, said that the competition will run for 44 days culminating with the semi-finals and final being held in Sydney.

Rugby World Cup will be the world’s largest sporting event this year and the third largest sporting event behind the Olympics and World Soccer Cup.

For more information on the Rugby Business Club go to the website  HYPERLINK http://www.rugbybusiness.com www.rugbybusiness.com.au or e-mail Australian Trade commission at david.crook@austrade.gov.au