This morning whilst South West London slept off it’s hangover I sat and reflected on the 365 days ahead. It is fair to say that this year will be the largest year that English Rugby has seen in a very long time, perhaps ever, for as you all know it is the year of a home Rugby World Cup.
With 260 days left until the Opening Ceremony and the first match of the tournament the overarching emotion across the rugby community is one of excitement. England have always been a giant of the game in terms of the manner in which our Union conducts itself and the quality of the Domestic and Women’s games however in 2015 England Rugby must surpass anything it has done before and take things to the next level.
London 2012 and Glasgow 2014 were superb sporting spectacles and the 31st October arrives this year, the same must be said about the Rugby World Cup. This is something that the organisers are acutely aware of, already we have witnessed Dan Carter kicking a rugby ball between Tower Bridge, Martin Johnson and Lewis Moody delivering the 'best half time team talk ever, 10,000 interviews occur for RWC Volunteers and the World Cup itself currently travelling the world. The landmark events to mark this historic tournament continued last night in Newcastle and Cardiff, Rugby World Cup logos were revealed on the Tyne Bridge and Cardiff Castle.
Revealing these lasting logos is just the first step on the 2015 road to the tournament, as Debbie Jones the Chief Executive of England Rugby 2015 highlighted their ambition is to ‘deliver a tournament that excites and inspires the nation’. Debbie also stated that the tournament organisers wish England 'feel like a rugby nation throughout 2015'. To those of us that are immersed in the world of rugby already that may sound like a null and void objective because to us it England is however it is critical for the health of the sport in this country that the tournament inspires those that have never been exposed to the sport before. Inspire a generation was the objective of the London 2012 Olympic Games and the greatest tournament of our sporting calendar must do the same.
There is a huge pressure on Stuart Lancaster and his team to deliver, the greatest inspiration and event that England could host would be one in which Chris Robshaw lifts the Webb Ellis Trophy on the Twickenham turf on the 31st October. That is the dream which we will all hold on to until the tournament starts on 18th September from then on it is in the hands of rugby gods. What a year it will be for England and English Rugby… let the World Cup year commence.
