More than half a million people have visited the ‘fanzones’ set up across England and Wales to try to help maximise people’s enjoyment of the Rugby World Cup and tournament organisers are rightly delighted.
In short with more than a full round of pool matches still to go more people have visited those facilities than attended the entire inaugural World Cup.
However perhaps as telling an indicator as any other as to just how far this tournament has come was always going to be the turn-out at its least glamorous fixtures and to that end a visit to Leicester City Stadium was pretty much the litmus test.
There had never been much prospect of this match mattering greatly to anyone other than the participants, particularly after Canada had been edged out by Italy, denying them any real chance of automatic qualification for the next World Cup and let’s just say that much of the feel-good factor surrounding the competition itself among the host nation’s citizenry had been expected to wane more than a little after their heroes were unceremoniously turfed out of their tournament.
To make matters worse, for all that this corner of the East Midlands is traditionally rugby territory the round ball game has been grabbing much disposable income of late with the surprising start to the season by Claudio Ranieri’s charges and, just to further test matters, the glorious weather that has blessed so far blessed the competition had finally broken.
The first game after England’s exit, then, on a wet Tuesday afternoon in the East Midlands… and still they came in their droves.
Yes, you could buy a ticket right up until kick off and yes, there were some empty spaces in the 32,000 seater stadium, but really not that many and what made the 27,153 turn-out all the more satisfying for those charged with maximising attendance at this tournament was that the locals were clearly intent on continuing to enjoy events, while the surprising scale of the committed backing for both side demonstrated the drawing power for both ex-pat and travelling supporters.
Neutrals, who got behind Romania’s second half comeback bid, meanwhile clearly relished the chance to witness this latest demonstration of rugby’s potential as two teams of men who were born to play rugby, thick set east Europeans and ruggedly muscular North Americans, set about one another.
It is ever more clear that all that is preventing the sport’s growth is the increased exposure of such athletes to the necessary levels of regular competition to hone the technique and accuracy that currently separates them from the elite group of nations.
Did it matter? You just had to look at the celebrations of ex-Edinburgh head coach Lynn Howells’ men who behaved as if they had qone the tournament and the devastation of the Canadians when the final whistle blew, to know what it means to win a World Cup match.
Yet for all that it was a fine contest, played in excellent spirit, nothing said more about the World Cup than the excitement of an only slightly inebriated Canadian supporter resplendent in knee-length shorts, steel-toed boots, red-and-black checked lumberjack shirt and mock beaver-skin hat, jumping up and down as he told his friends: “I got my picture with Martin Johnson.”
He quickly admitted that the man who had been in charge of England’s last World Cup campaign had been a little less excited about the encounter.
However the fact that Johnno, synonymous as he is with Leicester, England and Lions rugby, was there and willing to join in – any apparent grumpiness would merely have been playing to the popular image of the unsmiling giant – spoke well of him and the tournament.
In terms of selling this sport it is already more than worthy of the claims that it would be the best ever.
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