In September 2015, six years of intense preparation will finally bear fruit as the Rugby World Cup takes place in England.
Four countries had entered the race for the right to host the 2015 World Cup and the winning bid was announced back in July 2009.
England’s successful bid was built around thirteen stadia scattered across the whole of the country. Eleven cities will be involved—from Newcastle-upon-Tyne to Exeter and Rugby’s biggest tournament starts on 18th September 2015 when England face Fiji at Twickenham.
The tournament looks to be incredibly popular with sports fans who were invited to buy Rugby World Cup tickets in a general sale last September that saw almost 5 million applications made.
The twenty competing nations have been divided into four groups—or pools. England may have home advantage, and they are viewed as favourites by some pundits. However, Australia lie in wait, along with Wales, forming a very tight pool that is hard to call.
Many eyes will be focused on the progress that former Rugby League superstar Sam Burgess makes following his switch to Union this year. Ex-South Sydney Rabbitohs player Burgess made his full home debut for Bath Rugby against Montpellier in mid-December. He admitted that the transition so far has been harder than he imagined.
“It’s harder than it looks.” Burgess told BT Sport. “[Tackling] is definitely something I have to change. It’s very hard to change a habit you’ve had for 12 to 15 years. You get taught to tackle completely differently to how you get taught here.”
Although his best position is still to be found, England head coach Stuart Lancaster will be hoping that Burgess does overcome any teething problems that he currently has so that he can consider him for his World Cup squad.
Given the explosive performances we have become used to seeing from him in Rugby League, though, it won’t only be England that will be hoping Burgess can find his feet in the 15 man game. The whole world will be watching, too.
The venues in England for the Rugby World Cup 2015 are:
Twickenham Stadium (London), Wembley Stadium (London), Olympic Stadium (London), Millennium Stadium (Cardiff), Manchester City Etihad Stadium (Manchester), St James’ Park (Newcastle), Elland Road (Leeds), Leicester City Stadium (Leicester), Villa Park (Birmingham), Kingsholm Stadium (Gloucester), Stadium-MK (Milton Keynes), Brighton Community Stadium (Brighton) and Sandy Park (Exeter)
The pools for the Rugby World Cup 2015 are:
POOL A: Australia, England, Wales, Fiji, Uruguay
POOL B: South Africa, Samoa, Japan, Scotland, USA
POOL C: New Zealand, Argentina, Tonga, Georgia, Namibia
POOL D: France, Ireland, Italy, Canada, Romania
Image credit: ATPI
