While Luxembourg recorded the greatest rise in world rankings last year, they are sadly not (yet) among the top 20 countries that have qualified to participate in this year's Rugby World Cup in England, kicking off on Friday 18 September.
That's 100 days exactly from today, when Prince Harry, Honorary President of England Rugby 2015, Jonny Wilkinson and Will Greenwood, Rugby World Cup 2003 winners, the Rugby World Cup Trophy Tour. They gave the tournament's trophy, the Webb Ellis Cup, a fitting send-off this morning as the Rugby World Cup Trophy Tour set off from Twickenham Stadium on its 100-day tour of the UK and Ireland.
The trio were joined by local schoolchildren from Richmond and Hounslow, as well as RFU Chief Executive Ian Ritchie, England Rugby 2015 Chairman Andy Cosslett and Managing Director Stephen Brown, and Rugby World Cup Limited Director David Pickering to send the Webb Ellis Cup off on its 100 day journey around the UK and Ireland. The Rugby World Cup Trophy Tour will visit over 300 events including rugby clubs, sporting events, schools, community festivals and iconic landmarks. The Trophy Tour will celebrate rugby and the hosting of Rugby World Cup 2015, providing as many people as possible with the chance to engage with the tournament and see rugby's greatest prize.
The Trophy Tour will spend five days in Scotland, five days in Northern Ireland, five days in the Republic of Ireland, ten days in Wales and 75 days in England before arriving at the opening ceremony on 18 September. It follows the successful international trophy tour which completed visits to 15 countries, engaging and exciting fans across the world in the run up to England 2015.
The full tour schedule is available at www.rugbyworldcup.com/trophy-tour/events.
With 100 days to go, Tournament Organisers England Rugby 2015 and Tournament Owners Rugby World Cup Limited (RWCL) confirmed planning for Rugby World Cup 2015 is in good shape, on track and set to deliver the biggest Rugby World Cup to date. Ticket sales last week hit 2 million through all official sales channels, including general sale and the official hospitality and travel programmes. Tickets are currently on sale through all official channels and additional tickets will continue to be added to the general sale on a monthly basis as they become available.
England Rugby 2015 today also announced details of their CSR ticketing programme 'Engaged' which will see 15,000 tickets allocated across the host cities and the town of Rugby, the Mayor of London's Sports Legacy Programmes, RFU Regional Legacy Boards, the Injured Players Foundation and Tickets for Troops. The tickets will enable community groups, young people and rugby development programmes to be part of Rugby World Cup 2015. Details will be announced by the host cities and relevant organisations over the coming weeks.
As readiness and testing continues in earnest, successful test events in Rugby World Cup 2015 match venues Brighton Community Stadium (March) and Stadium MK (April) will be followed by the first ever rugby match at The Stadium, Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, between the Barbarians and Samoa on 29 August. Transport and event footprint testing opportunities will also be utilised at the two England Rugby World Cup warm-up matches at Twickenham Stadium in August and September. Venue scenario testing and desktop exercises are also underway with key security, transport and operational stakeholders, enabling England Rugby 2015 to ensure the best possible delivery of the tournament.
