RWC 2015 venues.. no welford road??

[The Boy Dave]

Angry as I am about this decision I interpret this as a deliberate snub to Rugby clubs throughout the country.Apart from Glaws (I Do not know why but it may be rejected at a later date

Gloucester have made big efforts to help strengthen English rugby. Not just at the highest level but also investing time, effort and cash through Hartpury College and their participation in the national league. Their programme has become more than just an academy, it has become a constructive part of the league system helping young English talent enter the game at every level. It has been quite impressive to watch them develop from an idea into what they have built so far. I suspect this is reward for their continued work in the grassroots/lower leagues rugby whilst developing potential first team players of their own.

[Jay C]

Unbelievable - and all because our pitch is 4m too short ! RFU conspiracy indeed

What a load of old f@rts.

WR would make a perfectly good venue for the tier two/three nations to play in. I will not be watching WC rugby at the crisp bowl, let alone Derby....

Good luck to Glaws - hope they make the final 12.

[Jay C]

1.Villa Park, Birmingham
2.Brighton Community Stadium, Brighton
3.Ashton Gate, Bristol
4.Millennium Stadium, Cardiff
5.Coventry Stadium, Coventry
6.Pride Park, Derby
7.Kingsholm, Gloucester
8.Elland Road, Leeds
9.Leicester City Stadium, Leicester
10.Olympic Stadium, London
11.Twickenham Stadium, London
12.Wembley Stadium, London
13.Old Trafford, Manchester
14.Stadiummk, Milton Keynes
15.St James’ Park, Newcastle
16.St Mary’s Stadium, Southampton
17.Stadium of Light, Sunderland

Five to be left out :
Brighton/Soton - only 1 venue needed on the south coast, you'd think
Glaws/Bristol & Newcastle/Sunderland - same logic
Villa Park & Derby - just no to either of them
3 (very) large london venues - surely not enough big games for all of them ? (especially as England will be "touring the country" during the group stage)....

So there will be some crass choices that make the final cut & no hope of filling the stadiums chosen for all the games available.....

[CitizenSmiff]

How about WR get a couple of big screens on the pitch and we all rock up there and watch it. pay a bit to go to Matt Hampson. Players could be there too...

I'd buy my ticket right now, imagine how satisfying it'd be to have more people watching a game at WR than live at the King Power.

[mike]

Sadly it is fair to say that many of the facilities at Welford Road are very poor and more progress should have been made on the Ground redevelopment .I love to sit on my wooden plank at the top of the Crumbie Stand - wouldn't change it for the world - but in truth it should have been redeveloped years ago . The Clubhouse stand area is another area of neglect - visit the Captains Bar and you will see a relic of a TV similar to those that our grandparents once had - a small thing but one that could have been put right so easily .

[silverfish]

I must hark back to the 1991 RWC held here when only rugby grounds were selected and here in Yorkshire Otley was the selected site hosting Italy v USA, who were in the same group as England

One of my first rugby memories is seeing another game from that group, NZ-Italy at Welford Road. They had so much temporary seating that you couldn't see the scoreboard from the pitch, and one of the All Blacks had to ask the crowd what the score was. I think they told him he was losing. Sad to think young Tiger fans won't be able to have the same experience I did.

[thebearisstilldeano]

What a bunch of Buffoons in charge of the RWC.

I'm incandescent about this..... not just slighted as a Tigers fan feeling our home has been insulted, but as a rugby fan in general who feels as though the heart and soul of the sport has been completely ignored.

I don't think it's just us who should feel aggrieved but Saints fans, Bath fans, Exeter fans, Worcester fans ... fans at all the great grounds which could very easily hold the kind of crowds you will get for pool game between the "minnows".

No one is suggesting latter stage games be played at regional venues, but even games between bigger nations will have a limited draw.

Last RWC in England I went to the soul-less football ground in Huddersfield to see England (yes ENGLAND) play Holland... and even with the national team playing in a "gim-me " win game it wasn't a sell out. What chance this time for a Namibia Fiji game ( even in NZ with its national rugby culture this game only drew 10K spectators in the 2011 tounament. My, 10,000 people - they'll rattle around the crisp bowl won't they!)?

Time for the clubs (and I include junior clubs here too), to cut the RFU loose - which perhaps they will when the bill for this foolhardy strategy is passed on after the tournament ends in enevitable penury.

[Tigerpete]

Reading what that guy Ritchie ( did you see what I did there) has said, pitch, area around ground, media, tick boxes, tick boxes etc, I find the whole episode embarrassing for Rugby. We have a ground that has 20,000 for every game, with players who manage to arrive and get changed without much problem, which televises games live and allows reporters to write their little essays. But now, this same ground is now longer up to the standards required by fans, players, media etc for the RWC. Exactly how does that work. And after the RWC must we continue to utilise what the RFU must think is a sub standard experience for fans and players or should we now all demand grounds like the crisp factory. Tigers need to create murder over this slap in the face to the rugby going public and the work done by the clubs. The RFU may be full of old farts but that doesn't mean the club should allow them to shoot themselves in the foot.

I quite like the idea of screens at WR rather than go to a second tier football ground...

[jgriffin]

This is a political decision aimed at the clubs, and Tigers in particular. It is also a spectacular own goal by the WC2015 committee. I would not be surprised if Glaws is dropped too.
World cup pool match at Tigers - 15-20K+ tickets sold
Pool match at Sandy Park - 12K sold, no problem
World cup pool match at Stadium of Light max 10K probably more like 5K.
Potential crowd behaviour problems as well.....
The numbers do not stack up.
The only logic is political.
Or just plain stupid.

[thebearisstilldeano]

Grrr still chuntering...

Perhaps the RFU have had some advice from the marketing people at Saffercens about "creating something special".

No doubt the sales technique will revolve around free seats and flags for pool games with free beer for anyone bringing their own air horn.

I'm not sure I'd want to watch that even on TV.

And to follow up with a serious point - in terms of legacy... do the RFU really believe that a football stadium, half full of kids and people who don't normally follow rugby but who are taking advantage of a cut price afternoon experience will temp thousands to become regular fans at their local clubs after the tournament has finished - hmmmm not exactly working for Saffercens that strategy is it.

[kingneptuneii]

I must say the club don't seem to be taking it lying down.

I fired off an email last night expressing my sadness at the decision, expecting to get a stock reply back "tankyou for yor email etc."

instead, I was awoken this morning by a phoen call from Peter Tom himself! explaining that he is keeping abreast of the petitions being signed, the twitter campaign, and the media interest in this. and that he'll continue to send me links to places where we can make our voice heard.

the board have been criticised on this forum before, but I for one was impressed and very touched at his responce

[Rykard]

where's the petition?

[kingneptuneii]

As soon as he sends me the links, I'll copy them here

[bluntiger]

I can't help but think that the IRB/RWC2015 are counting on the fact that Tigers fans will turn up to games at the Crisp Bowl.

I for one, as a ST holder would definitely have turned up to games at WR but I definitely will NOT be turning up to any games at the KP (should it be selected of course!). Plus with Villa Park, Ricoh, Stadium MK and the KP Stadium all within 40 minutes of Leicester, they surely won't all make the cut.

The smaller stadia that do make the final list will likely get third tier nations' games ie games between the likes of Tonga, Georgia, Portugal, Japan, Fiji, Namibia, Romania, Canada or USA. How many people will turn out to see those games, probably played midweek evenings? There will be little or no travelling support. In NZ in 2011, those games were played at stadium with capacities of between 15000 - 26000 and were far from sold out.

[tigermike]

The best supported rugby club in the country does not get a look in at hosting even a minor world cup game is an insult to the club and fans .I for one would sign any petition going to back the club in their quest to sort out this farce.
Good luck to Gloucester i might even go there myself to watch a game sooner than go the
kingpower stadium, and as for the Olympic stadium as a venue thats a joke I've been there and its a great place to watch athletics but rugby ,no way you will need a pair of binoculars to see the try line.