Former captain of the England Rugby team and England Rugby 2015 Ambassador, Lawrence Dallaglio OBE, was in Newcastle upon Tyne today (Tuesday May 6) to celebrate 500 days to go until Rugby World Cup 2015 and to announce the date tickets to the tournament will go on general sale.
Joined by members of local rugby union team Newcastle Falcons, and proud hosts Newcastle City Council, Lawrence unveiled the on-sale date at official host venue, St James’ Park, which will see three highly anticipated matches as part of the six week tournament.
Tickets for all 48 games at Rugby World Cup 2015 will go on sale via an application window which opens on September 12 and closes on September 29, 2014. From September 12, members of the public will be able to select the matches they want to attend across the country and in Cardiff, with any oversubscribed matches balloted.
In advance of the general sale, 500,000 tickets will go on sale to rugby fans this month through the Rugby Community Ticket Programme launched earlier this year. All clubs and RFU affiliated organisations in England will, from today, be able to register their nominated members to purchase tickets from May 16, 2014. The programme gives clubs the opportunity to recognise and reward loyal fans who support the game week in week out in the host country for Rugby World Cup 2015.
In addition to announcing the tickets on sale date, Newcastle City Council and destination marketing agency NewcastleGateshead Initiative launched a dedicated Rugby World Cup 2015 website for Host City Newcastle upon Tyne, which aims is to inspire rugby fans locally, and across the world, to choose the destination for their Tournament experience.
www.NewcastleGateshead.com/rwc will provide local people, and visitors to the destination, all the information they need to plan their Rugby World Cup 2015 experience before and during the Tournament, which begins on Friday 18 September 2015.
The third biggest sporting event in the world, more than 400,000 international rugby fans are expected to visit the UK during Rugby World Cup 2015. The potential economic impact of Rugby World Cup in NewcastleGateshead and the wider region is estimated at £14million.
St James’ Park will host three games as part of the six week tournament. Saturday October 3 sees South Africa take on Scotland and the following weekend sees current Rugby World Cup champions New Zealand take on Tonga on Friday October 9. The final game sees pacific islanders Samoa clash with Scotland on Saturday October 10.
Sitting within the destination’s main visitor website, www.NewcastleGateshead.com, the dedicated Rugby World Cup 2015 website for Host City, Newcastle upon Tyne, will provide information on buying tickets, fan zones, volunteering and practical information for visitors to the region on accommodation, things to see and do, and local rugby.
Sarah Stewart, chief executive of destination management and marketing agency NewcastleGateshead Initiative said: “The new website, www.newcastlegateshead.com/rwc, provides a one-stop-shop for Rugby World Cup 2015 in Newcastle upon Tyne and means we can start to engage with sports fans here in the region and the thousands of visiting fans from across the world that will be coming here for the tournament.”
Cllr. Nick Forbes, Leader of Newcastle City Council, said: “Newcastle’s Rugby World Cup 2015 website is a fantastic resource for local rugby clubs to communicate the work they do and make links with visiting fans. Creating a legacy for rugby in the region following Rugby World Cup 2015 is something we’re very passionate about and we’ll be working with organisations including Newcastle Falcons and Northumberland Rugby Union to deliver this.”
Details of the international Rugby World Cup Trophy Tour have also been announced, celebrating rugby and taking the Webb Ellis Cup to 15 countries in the build-up to the Tournament. The tour will be delivered in partnership with DHL and Land Rover and will depart for Japan on May 20, 2014 for the first leg of the tour. In addition to Japan, the route will include visits to Australia, Fiji, Madagascar, Kenya, South Africa, Argentina, Uruguay, China, USA, UAE, Italy, Germany, Romania, France before returning to England on 100 days to go (June 10, 2015) for a tour of the UK and Ireland.
As Tournament planning progresses at pace, the search to find the 6,000 volunteers to welcome the world to England and to Rugby in 2015 is well underway with over 20,000 applications received to join ‘The Pack’. Try-Outs (selection events) will be held between June and December 2014 in every RWC 2015 Host City, with Newcastle’s Try-Outs taking place from September 30 – October 11 at Newcastle Racecourse. Members of the ‘The Pack’ will be confirmed in January 2015.
Debbie Jevans, England Rugby 2015 CEO, said: “Our plans are right on track with 500 days to go. We are pleased to announce the dates of the general sale today, allowing fans to save the date and plan.
“We have seen a very strong response to the Rugby Community Ticket Programme and we are pleased we have enabled clubs to recognise their loyal fans with access to tickets for Rugby World Cup 2015 on home turf. From today, members are being registered and 500,000 tickets will go on sale from May 16 – June 30.
“We are very excited to announce the Rugby World Cup Trophy Tour plans. This gives us a unique opportunity to celebrate rugby around the world in the lead up to 2015, engaging and exciting rugby fans and potential new audiences ahead of the Tournament. Visiting 15 countries, including nations qualified for RWC 2015 and emerging rugby markets, gives us an opportunity to showcase the global game and its shared values. In DHL and Land Rover, we have two brilliant partners who are longstanding supporters of rugby, and we look forward to the start of the tour in Japan later this month.
“Everything is in place now for a great Tournament as we move into the delivery phase of our major campaigns. We can already see the great enthusiasm for RWC 2015 500 days out, with over 20,000 applications to join The Pack and the positive response to the Rugby Community Ticket programme.”
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