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DUNCAN JOHNSTONE
Last updated 10:48 02/09/2014
New Zealand and the world champion All Blacks have been snubbed in an extravagant new advertisement featuring a Game of Thrones star promoting ticket sales for next year's Rugby World Cup.
English actor Charles Dance, who played the evil head of the Lannister clan in the TV blockbuster Game Of Thrones, puts in a fine performance in the World Cup advert as he delivers a passion-fuelled team talk in a rugby dressing room.
There are English, Welsh, Italian, Scotland and South African players portrayed - some of them actual internationals like Welsh prop Adam Jones - but no sign of any All Blacks.
The closest Kiwi link is England's New Zealand-born hooker Dylan Hartley. Oh, and "our" World Cup, which the All Blacks defend next year in England, is there.
There are referees, groundsmen, management personnel including English greats Martin Johnson and Lawrence Dallaglio and Scottish legend Ian McGeechan, volunteers from around Britain and supporters from Samoa, South Africa and Australia all squeezed into the room.
But no sign of any New Zealand presence in the 2m 30s extravaganza - unless you can second guess a snippet of a black sleeve at one point.
The advertisement is pushing the next wave of tickets sales for the tournament that go out to the general public on September 12.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/rugby/a...m-World-Cup-ad