Rugby World Cup 2015 _VERIFIED_
The 2015 Rugby World Cup was the eighth Rugby World Cup, the quadrennial rugby union world championship. The tournament was hosted by England[nb 1] from 18 September to 31 October.[2] Of the 20 countries competing in the World Cup in 2011, there was only one change: Uruguay replaced Russia. This was the first World Cup with no new teams to the tournament.
Rugby World Cup 2015
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The highly contested match between Japan and South Africa on the opening weekend, in which Japan scored the winning try in the final minute, was widely considered the biggest upset in the history of rugby.[5] Hosts England were eliminated at the pool stage, after defeats by Wales and Australia; this was the first time the knockout stage did not feature a host nation.
The International Rugby Board (IRB) requested that any member unions wishing to host this tournament or the 2019 Rugby World Cup should indicate their interest by 15 August 2008. This would be purely to indicate interest; no details had to be provided at this stage. A record 10 unions indicated formal interest in hosting the 2015 and/or the 2019 events: Australia, England, Ireland, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Russia, Scotland, South Africa and Wales.[6] Argentina had been reported in early 2008 as having given preliminary consideration to bidding,[7] but did not ultimately formally indicate an interest in bidding.
In September 2007, The Guardian reported that the Rugby Football Union had decided to submit a bid. BBC News reported in February 2009 that the intent was for a solo bid from the RFU, but with the possibility of some matches being played in Scotland, Wales or Ireland.[19] It was hoped that the 2015 World Cup would add to Britain's "Decade of Sport" (including the 2012 Summer Olympics, 2013 Rugby League World Cup and 2014 Commonwealth Games).
Italy stated its desire to host,[21] and an Italian bid to host the Rugby World Cup in 2015 or 2019 was confirmed on 20 July 2008. Italy declared that it wanted to host "For the Enlargement of the Frontiers of Our Sport". It was a slogan relevant to the then-current landscape of World Cup rugby, given that 2007 was the first time that the Rugby World Cup was hosted by a primarily non-English-speaking country.
The Italian bid offered the largest cities and stadiums in the country and promised a fast domestic train system. The Italian Rugby Federation (FIR) also included the importance of the population and the growth of rugby since Italy joined the Six Nations in 2000 as reasons for hosting a World Cup. Rugby had been growing increasingly popular in Italy in recent years, with improved crowds at international matches.
The Japan Rugby Football Union officially submitted its tender to the IRB in May 2009.[22] Japan was seen as a favourite to host after finishing as runner-up in the bidding for the 2011 event.[22] Japan was seen as having a lot to offer rugby's growth in Asia.[citation needed] Its population of 127 million, its large economy, and its ability to place rugby before a new Asian audience made it a front-runner for hosting rights.[citation needed] Furthermore, rugby in Japan had developed a following, and with 126,000 registered players, Japan had more players than some of the Six Nations.[citation needed] Japan's Top League was a showcase for Japanese rugby, and there was excitement about Japan's entry into the RWC.[citation needed] Japan's experience in co-hosting the 2002 FIFA World Cup was also seen as a boost, with Japan already possessing the necessary stadiums and infrastructure.[citation needed]
The South African Rugby Union (SARU) had confirmed its intent to bid for the 2015 tournament,[23] and in May 2009 South Africa delivered its application to the IRB.[24] South Africa had previously made an unsuccessful bid to host the 2011 RWC. The strengths of a South African bid would be that it is in the same time zone as Europe, the wealthiest television market from a rugby perspective, that South Africa were the current World Cup holders, that they had successfully hosted the 1995 Rugby World Cup, won the 2007 Rugby World Cup and that they were in the process of building large new stadiums for the then-upcoming 2010 FIFA World Cup.
After England were appointed tournament hosts on 28 July 2009, the proposed stadia for the tournament were revealed. The final venues were confirmed, along with the tournament's schedule, on 2 May 2013.[25] Twelve of the stadia were located in England, while the Millennium Stadium located in neighbour Wales was also to be used. In 2011, the IRB approved the use of the Millennium Stadium, despite being outside of the host country, due to its capacity and strategic location.[26] Of the thirteen venues, two were dedicated rugby union grounds (Kingsholm Stadium and Sandy Park), two were national rugby stadia (Twickenham and the Millennium Stadium), two were multi-purpose stadia (Wembley Stadium and the Olympic Stadium), and the remainder were association football grounds.[27]
Of the 20 teams competing at the 2015 World Cup, 12 of them qualified by finishing in the top three places in their pools in the 2011 Rugby World Cup. The other eight teams qualified through regional competition. As the host nation, England qualified automatically. The qualification process for the remaining teams incorporated existing regional competitions such as the European Nations Cup.[34]
Seedings for the pools of the 2015 World Cup were based on the teams' respective IRB Rankings. The draw, hosted by Will Greenwood, was conducted on 3 December 2012 in London, and used the World Rankings as of that day, just after the 2012 end-of-year rugby union internationals, which finished on 1 December 2012.[36] The 12 automatic qualifiers from 2011 were allocated to their respective bands based on their rankings:
The draw saw a representative randomly draw a ball from a pot, the first drawn ball goes to Pool A, the second Pool B, the third Pool C and the fourth Pool D. The draw began with Pot 5, drawn by All Blacks captain Richie McCaw, followed by Pot 4, drawn by RWC 2015 Ambassador and English women's international Maggie Alphonsi, then Pot 3, drawn by Mayor of London Boris Johnson, Pot 2, drawn by the then Chief Executive for RWC 2015 Debbie Jevans, and finally Pot 1, drawn by IRB chairman Bernard Lapasset.
Each country was allowed a squad of 31 players for the tournament. These squads were to be submitted to World Rugby by a deadline of 31 August 2015. Once the squad was submitted, a player could be replaced if injured, but would not be allowed to return to the squad. There was also a stand-down period of 48 hours before the new player was allowed to take the field. Hence, a replacement player called into a squad on the eve of a game would not be permitted to play in that game.[41]
The opening ceremony of the 2015 Rugby World Cup took place at Twickenham Stadium in London on 18 September 2015 at 19:20 (BST). The ceremony told the legend of how William Webb Ellis created the sport of rugby union, and featured the choir of Rugby School singing "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot", an anthem of rugby union in England. All the participating teams were represented by a former player in the ceremony; the host nation, England, was represented by World Cup-winning captain Martin Johnson. The ceremony was directed by Kim Gavin, who was also responsible for directing the closing ceremonies of both the 2012 Summer Olympics and the 2012 Summer Paralympics. Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, who had an acting part previously in the ceremony, declared the tournament officially open, ending his speech with the words, "We're ready. Game on." British Prime Minister David Cameron said on social media that the 2015 Rugby World Cup would be the best ever.[42]
At the 2015 World Rugby Awards, Japan's game-winning final try against South Africa was named the best match moment of the tournament.[46] A dream team was named made up of the best performing players of the tournament.[47]
ITV Sport was the UK and worldwide host broadcaster for the 2015 event, having signed a deal in 2011 to broadcast the 2011 and 2015 RWC tournaments. ITV won the rights after outbidding rivals including the BBC and Sky Sports.[52] It showed every match from the tournament live in the UK on ITV or ITV4.[53]
The officially licensed Rugby World Cup 2015 video game was released on 4 September 2015 on PC, PS3, PS4, PS Vita, Xbox 360 and Xbox One.[82] IGN rated the game 1.5/10, calling it "unbearable to play".[83]
Method: The study protocol followed the definitions and procedures recommended in the consensus statement for epidemiological studies in rugby union; output measures included players' age (years), stature (cm), body mass (kg) and playing position, and the group-level incidence (injuries/1000 player-hours), mean and median severity (days-absence), location (%), type (%) and inciting event (%) for match and training injuries.
Results: Incidence of injury was 90.1 match injuries/1000 player-match-hours (backs: 100.4; forwards: 81.1) and 1.0 training injuries/1000 player-training-hours (backs: 0.9; forwards: 1.2). The mean severity of injuries was 29.8 days-absence (backs: 30.4; forwards: 29.1) during matches and 14.4 days-absence (backs: 6.3; forwards: 19.8) during training. During matches, head/face (22.0%), knee (16.2%), muscle-strain (23.1%) and ligament-sprain (23.1%) and, during training, lower limb (80.0%) and muscle-strain (60.0%) injuries were the most common locations and types of injury. Being-tackled (24.7%) was the most common inciting event for injury during matches and rugby-skills-contact activities (70.0%) the most common during training.
Conclusions: While the incidence, nature and inciting events associated with match injuries at RWC 2015 were similar to those reported previously for RWCs 2007 and 2011, there were increasing trends in the mean severity and total days-absence through injury.
Game Description: Experience the passion of rugby in the official 2015 Rugby World Cup video game. Choose from among the 20 teams in the World Cup and take part in the most prestigious competition in rugby. Rewrite history with your favourite team by taking it from the pool stage all the way to the final, or by creating your own customized tournament. Experience the World Cup as if you were there with commentary from Miles Harrison and Stuart Barnes. 041b061a72