- Title: UK-FILE-: RUGBY: World Cup hoping to include Olympic stadium
- Date: 17th September 2012
- Summary: LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM (SEPTEMBER 17, 2012) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) HEAD OF RUGBY WORLD CUP AND RWCL TOURNAMENT DIRECTOR, KIT MCCONNELL, SAYING: "Oh we're very happy. We think we're right on track for where we need to be to deliver an outstanding Rugby World Cup 2015. It's normal that the next six to nine months are critical for Rugby World Cup that's been the way for the last two tournaments which were hugely successful. The Pool allocation on December 3 is really a critical milestone for us. From that time we'll know which teams are playing which other teams in which pools and from there we can build a match schedule, finalise the number of venues and the type of venues we need, finalise the selection of those match venues and build a ticketing programme so we're in a great place to learn the lessons from London 2012 build those into the lessons from previous Rugby World Cups and move forward through a very important six to nine months." CLOSE OF THE NAMES OF THE WORLD CUP WINNERS ON THE WEBB ELLIS CUP MCCONNELL TALKING ABOUT THE WEBB ELLIS CUP
- Embargoed: 2nd October 2012 13:00
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- Location: United Kingdom
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- Country: United Kingdom
- Topics: Sports
- Reuters ID: LVAE8HDFVTM1744PC2YC2488EZCO
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- Story Text: Rugby World Cup 2015 organisers are hoping to stage matches at London's Olympic stadium as part of their bid to attract record audiences.
Organisers of the 2015 rugby World Cup are hoping to stage matches at London's Olympic stadium as part of their bid to attract record audiences and generate 100 million pounds ($163 million) in profits.
On Monday, a day before the "three years to go" landmark, organisers said they were looking at east London as well as at major soccer grounds in the north. The tournament kicks off on Sept. 18 with the final scheduled for Twickenham on Oct. 31.
The future of the Olympic stadium is still unclear but officials said earlier on Monday that the likely scenario would be that Premier League soccer club West Ham United would move in.
Cardiff's Millennium Stadium will also host some matches, although how many Wales play there is still to be decided, and it could turn out that no club rugby venues are used at all.
Only Gloucester and Leicester have expressed an interest in hosting and their limited capacities could rule them out as organisers seek to reach a target of 2.9 million ticket sales as part of their bid to make at least a 100 million pound profit.
"The Olympic Park is definitely in our thoughts and we'd be mad not to utilise a venue that's been purpose built. You know with regards to access and egress you've seen it's not just particularly the stadium but you double the capacity when you look at the rest of the Olympic Park," Ross Young, the tournament's chief operating officer told Reuters.
"That configuration is going to change slightly and unfortunately there's a little bit of doubt currently on what the future is going to hold with regards permanent tenancy so yes we have been engaging we'll continue to engage with them and we'll try to give them as long as we can to firm up some of those current variables but it's certainly our intention to utilise it in some shape or form."
The Head of Rugby World Cup and the Rugby World Cup Limited Tournament Director Kit McConnell added: "We will use some rugby grounds we will also use some dedicated football grounds and we will use some larger venues used to hosting both football and rugby and other major events such as Twickenham, such as Wembley and such as Millennium Stadium so it's a matter of finding the balance between those so every venue is full for World Cup 2015 and the size of the venue matches the nature of the game being played so we can reach our target of 2.9million spectators but also do it in a way where we spread the venues around the country and have everyone of those venues, everyone one of those 48 matches full for the tournament."
The organisers have also brought in Debbie Jevans, one of the key people behind the organisation of the 2012 Olympics, to replace Paul Vaughan as the tournament's CEO.
"We can learn from the London 2012 Olympic Games and build that in to create a real mix between the history of the Rugby World Cup and the London 2012 Games for 2015," McConnell said," so Debbie's experience in delivering what are perhaps the best ever Olympic Games here in England for earlier this year and building those lessons into the Rugby World Cup 2015 is going to be a really important step forward."
McConnell was also keen for his sport to cash in on Britain's sporting feel good factor.
"That national engagement is something that is traditionally really important around a Rugby World Cup anyway but here in England you've obviously seen the best example of about how an Olympic Games has ignited a host country so we're looking to learn the lessons have people capture that atmosphere, that excitement around Rugby World Cup 2015 and generate that spirit once again in three year's time."
Young felt it is possible to maintain that excitement from the Olympics over the next three years just like Australia did between the 2000 Olympic Games and the 2003 Rugby World Cup.
"I was lucky enough to be involved in 2003 when I was with the International Rugby Board and they used the success of Sydney 2000 very well to keep it going," Young said. "I think we're also lucky in this country that rugby has continued to grow through the Premiership and you've got the likes of the Harlequins' big games and Saracens occupancies at Wembley for big events. You market them well people will come."
The next major step for the World Cup is December's pool draw, after which there should be rapid progress in deciding the venues, ticketing strategy and the thorny issue of the match schedule.
Organisers say they are committed to a fairer deal for the tier two and three nations following successive tournaments where many of them have been forced into playing many of their games with three or four day turnarounds. The big guns have routinely had a week to recover, primarily because of TV company demands for the major nations' games to be staged at weekends.
"We think we're right on track for where we need to be to deliver an outstanding Rugby World Cup 2015," McConnell said. "It's normal that the next six to nine months are critical for Rugby World Cup that's been the way for the last two tournaments which were hugely successful.
"The Pool allocation on December 3 is really a critical milestone for us. From that time we'll know which teams are playing which other teams in which pools and from there we can build a match schedule, finalise the number of venues and the type of venues we need, finalise the selection of those match venues and build a ticketing programme so we're in a great place to learn the lessons from London 2012 build those into the lessons from previous Rugby World Cups and move forward through a very important six to nine months."
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