The South African rugby team's snub of Hamilton drew a haughty reaction from New Zealand Prime Minister John Key and other officials as they set about selling this country as an attractive destination in 2011.

Key, dignitaries from the International Rugby Board and leading New Zealand rugby officials gathered in Hamilton to mark the date - two years out from the start of the 2011 rugby World Cup hosted by New Zealand.

On hand was All Blacks captain Richie McCaw although there was no representation from the world champion Springboks, who have elected to conduct most of their preparation on Queensland's Gold Coast ahead of the Tri-Nations Test against New Zealand on Saturday.

South African coach Peter de Villiers stirred up local sentiment by explaining his players risked going stale if they arrived earlier as "there is nothing in Hamilton".

He has them preparing in the bright lights and relative seclusion of Surfers Paradise before crossing the Tasman on Thursday.

Key took umbrage at that attitude and anticipated it would backfire.

"I actually think it's South Africa's loss," he said.

"I think it's misguided actually and I think when they come here on Saturday night, they'll come to realise that they like the place even less when they've been thumped by the All Blacks."

The head of the tournament organising group, Rugby New Zealand 2011 Ltd chief executive Martin Snedden, also took a subtle pot-shot.

Snedden was discussing the process of allocating each of the 20 participating teams to various "base" cities where they will train and live during the World Cup.

None had yet been announced although Snedden could not resist a dig at the Springboks.

"We've had to radically change our planning this morning, realising that the idea of having South Africa based here (Hamilton) for five weeks is probably not the most sensible thing to do."

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