Rugby World Cup authorities will not be banning the Dunedin man who streaked at Otago Stadium last weekend, but anyone else trying it will probably not be so lucky.
RWC 2011 would be encouraging the authorities to take strong action if there were any more cases of pitch invasions, a spokesman said yesterday.
He said it was satisfied the court was dealing with the Dunedin man, who ran naked on to the field at Otago Stadium during the England v Argentina match last weekend, through a police diversion and was not going to take the matter any further by banning him from future matches.
That decision did not lessen the seriousness of pitch invasion, which was a risk to the safety of players, officials, match event staff and to New Zealand's reputation as a host country for major events, he said.
"That is why Rugby New Zealand 2011 has worked with police and venue security to actively discourage fans from attempting to take the field at RWC matches."
The penalties under the Major Events Management Act were severe and RWC 2011 would encourage the authorities to use them if anyone else tried streaking.
"We also have the ability to ban fans from attending matches at a particular venue or cancel their tickets so we would hope that fans will be mindful of these penalties and respect the rules and the participants on the field."
The Dunedin man has been the only streaker so far in nine games of the tournament.