COME ON AUSSIES: Rugby New Zealand 2011 boss Martin Snedden won't be smiling at the sluggish World Cup ticket sales in Australia.

Rugby World Cup boss Martin Snedden has vowed the "sold- out" sign will be displayed outside the gates of all 48 tournament matches.

With just 236 days remaining before the September 9 kick-off, Snedden has spoken of his belief that the tournament will defy the troubled global economy and be a huge crowd-puller.

"Our Rugby World Cup will capture New Zealand. It's already well on the way to doing so," Snedden said in an article in the just-released International Rugby Board's 2011 Yearbook. "For us, this is a genuine once-in- a-lifetime opportunity, something really unique.

"Together with our thousands of international visitors we will fill the stadia for all the 48 RWC 2011 matches and, with the players, will create an incredibly special in-stadia experience.

"We will be there for the action, there for the fun but we will also be there just to make sure that, in case history is made, we can say we were part of it."

Snedden said Kiwi fans would "back the All Blacks to the hilt" but was just as confident they would "warmly embrace and care for all the participating teams and their supporters".

The Rugby World Cup is expected to inject more than $500 million into the New Zealand economy, with half of that going into the wider Auckland region.

More than 60,000 international visitors are expected to spend time in the country during the tournament.

Rugby World Cup Minister Murray McCully said 2011 promised to be a golden year in New Zealand's history. "New Zealand will be in the international spotlight like never before, and we will be ready," he said.

"RWC 2011 is an unprecedented opportunity to raise our international profile, boost our economy and make lasting gains in trade and tourism. We'll also have a festival programme . . . to show the world the very best of everything [we], as a small trading nation, have to offer."