The New Zealand Rugby Football Union (NZRFU) is to set up an independent inquiry into how it lost the sub-hosting rights to next year's World Cup.
After a meeting of the NZRFU board, chairman Murray McCaw said that the union accepted it was accountable for its loss of the co-hosting role.
The International Rugby Board (IRB) awarded Australia sole hosting rights to the 2003 Rugby World Cup following a meeting in Dublin last week.
New Zealand's failure to guarantee "clean" venues, stadiums free of advertising and pre-sold seating, ultimately led to Australia being given the rights to stage the tournament.
At certain stages in their campaign to retain co-hosting rights, NZRFU officials made strong verbal attacks on IRB chairman Vernon Pugh and Australian rugby union chief Jon O'Neill.
McCaw said the NZRFU board still believed it had taken "every reasonable action" to secure their role, but was aware of the level of public sentiment over the issue.
The review would be conducted by one person, "a judge or similar person", who would be independent of the NZRFU. A suitable person is expected to be appointed by a special NZRFU sub-committee in the next few days.
The review will cover the period from the 1998 bid until the IRB decision on April 18th.