St James’ Park stadium in Newcastle, UK, has unveiled its newly refurbished Sir Bobby Robson Suite, designed and decorated in tribute to the late England and Newcastle United manager.

The Sir Bobby Robson Suite holds up to 80 guests and is situated on level 3 of the stadium.

“Sir Bobby Robson held a very special place in the hearts, not just of Newcastle United supporters, but of football fans the world over and this suite is a lovely and lasting tribute to him,” said Samantha Doyle, sales and marketing manager for Sodexo Prestige Venues & Events, which manages conferencing and events at St James’ Park.

Along with the Sir Bobby Robson suite, St James’ Park has one of the biggest banqueting suites in the north east of England, capable of holding up to 1000 guests. Executive boxes with views of the pitch are also available for smaller meetings.

The walls of the suite, which have been lined with images of Sir Bobby from his playing days and managerial career at clubs such as Fulham, West Bromwich Albion, Ipswich Town, PSV Eindhoven, Sporting Lisbon, FC Porto, Barcelona, England and Newcastle United.

St James' Park is the second biggest sports ground in England outside London. Home to Newcastle United Football Club since 1892, the stadium has also hosted international and 2012 Olympic football, as well as concerts from the likes of Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen. 

In Ocotber, St. James Park is hosting three matches involving New Zealand, South Africa, Scotland, Samoa and Tonga during Rugby World Cup 2015.

HOST CITY: You played a pivotal role in bringing Rugby Sevens into the Olympic Programme. How important was your role on the NOC in achieving this? What challenges did you face and how were they overcome?

Bernard Lapasset: Our successful bid was founded on a strong desire for the rugby family to be reunited with the Olympic family. We wanted to be a part of the Olympic Games because we share the same values as the Olympic movement and we felt that we had an exciting and compelling proposition for the Olympic Games with Rugby Sevens. 

We also believed in the great opportunity that Olympic Games inclusion would provide our sport – an opportunity that we are now very much realising s we reach out, engage and grow in new markets. Our successful bid was based on the merits of an exciting, youthful and dynamic sport and a family united behind the bid, rather than the influence of any individual. Excitement is growing and we have no doubt Rugby Sevens at Rio 2016 will be a spectacular and memorable event. 

HOST CITY: You also played a central role in bringing the 2007 Rugby World Cup to France. Do you have any advice for countries contemplating bidding for World Rugby events?

Bernard Lapasset: Rugby World Cup is one of the world’s most prestigious and popular major sports events and a major driving force behind the development and prosperity of Rugby worldwide. As a low-risk, high-return event, Rugby World Cup is an attractive proposition for prospective host nations. 

It delivers multiple economic, tourism and social benefits, while using existing infrastructure. We are yet to formally launch the Rugby World Cup 2023 tender process, but we are already seeing great interest from nations who want to host the event, which underscores the strength of the Rugby World Cup brand in the global marketplace. We are also seeing great hosting interest in our major men’s and women’s Rugby Sevens properties and are looking forward to new host locations being introduced to our own record-breaking World Series in 2015/16. 

In terms of specific advice, Rugby is a sport of teamwork and across all World Rugby events partnership in delivery is key. A strong partnership between government, the host union and World Rugby is vital to successful delivery.  I would also say, plan early, the legacy opportunity begins the moment the rights are awarded and delivering sustainable growth is central to maximising the hosting opportunity.

HOST CITY: England and Japan are very different hosts, for 2015 and 2019. What do you expect these host nations to bring to the sport?

Bernard Lapasset: Both events provide us with exciting opportunities to cement Rugby as a major global sport, but for very different reasons. England 2015 will be a box-office hit, a record-breaker in terms of attendance, viewership, engagement and commercial income. It will be the financial driving force behind our ambition to reach participation levels of over 9 million in the next five years. Japan 2019 will underscore our commitment to grow rugby outside of its traditional heartlands, it will, and already is, opening opportunities in Asia to inspire participation and attract new audiences and partners.

HOST CITY: How significant is the rebrand of IRB to World Rugby in terms of the globalisation of the sport?

Bernard Lapasset: The name change and rebrand reflects our clear mission to grow the global family and is a statement of intent that we are not just an organisation that regulates and funds the sport, but one that also inspires and is inclusive. Through this rebrand we have been able to build a stronger connection with existing audiences – those who know and love the sport – while also reaching out, attracting and engaging new audiences worldwide. 

The rebrand included a new digital and social media approach and what we are seeing is an appetite from fans to engage with us in a different way – they feel part of World Rugby and they want to be a part of our journey. That is really exciting.

HOST CITY: Major sports federations are under intense scrutiny from the media. How important are integrity and fair play in upholding the value of a sport, and how do you see this being achieved in World Rugby?

Bernard Lapasset: We are a sport that is centred around character-building values – values of respect, integrity, discipline, passion and solidarity. Whether it is attracting new young players to the sport, respect for the referee and your opponents or maintaining a level playing field through robust anti-doping and anti-corruption education, everything that we do is geared towards educating the next generation on our unique values and how to live, promote and preserve them.

The chief executive of England Rugby 2015 (ER2015), Debbie Jevans CBE, has resigned for “personal reasons”.

She has led the Rugby World Cup Organising Committee since October 2012, almost immediately following her role as head of sport at London 2012. 

“This is the right decision for me to make at this time. I am immensely proud of the team and all that we have achieved in the time that I have been Chief Executive” Jevans said in a statement.

“Everything is in place to ensure that this is the best Rugby World Cup ever, and I am confident my team will deliver an exceptional tournament. The organisation is strong, there is a great team in place and I am really looking forward to watching the Rugby World Cup as a fan later this year.”

The 2015 Rugby World Cup is on track to break records for attendance and revenues. All aspects of tournament preparations are on or ahead of schedule, with over 1.9 million tickets sold to date.

She leaves a highly experienced event delivery Executive team in place, which will now report to Stephen Brown as the new Managing Director, who will work alongside ER2015 Chairman Andy Cosslett.

“On behalf of the ER2015 Board I would like to extend our enormous appreciation for all that Debbie has brought to the role,” said Cosslett. “Her legacy will be seen during and after the tournament is delivered, with a sporting event that I fully believe will be both memorable and inspiring, creating a step change in interest and participation for the game in this country.”

World Rugby Chairman Bernard Lapasset said “On behalf of World Rugby I would like to thank Debbie for her vision, dedication and leadership in implementing everything we need for an exceptional Rugby World Cup and wish her all the best for the future.

“England 2015 is in record-breaking shape with a strong and experienced organising committee in place, all stakeholders fully behind a shared vision and tournament delivery tracking ahead of schedule. We are confident that Rugby World Cup 2015 will be the biggest and best to date.”

It seems fitting that Japan, which hosted Asia’s first Olympic Games in 1964, will host the continent’s first Rugby World Cup in 2019, a year before the Olympics return.

Few countries could expect to host two of the world’s biggest sporting events in consecutive years but the Land of the Rising Sun has few equals in getting things done.

When 20 nations begin competing for the Rugby World Cup in September 2019, Japan will have had a decade to prepare since winning the right to host it.

The Tokyo Olympic Games, involving more than 200 countries and 28 sports, will begin on July 24 2020 – just seven years after the host city was announced.

Fujio Mitarai, President of Japan Rugby 2019, expressed delight when his country was awarded the Olympic Games, saying “the two events will work very well together”.

Excitement about the Olympics could encourage more Japanese to watch rugby, while the earlier tournament will provide valuable logistical and security experience.

Such benefits may largely be limited to the Olympic Stadium and surrounding area, however, given the lack of shared venues and difference in scale between the two events. 

Rebuilding the Olympic Stadium

The focal point for the World Cup and the Olympic and Paralympic Games will be the new 80,000-seater Olympic Stadium in Tokyo’s Shinjuku district. 

It will be built on the site of the 57,000 capacity Kasumigaoka National Stadium, which hosted the opening and closing ceremonies and track and field at Tokyo 1964, but is due to be demolished in the near future.

British architect Zaha Hadid’s original design has been revised but the Olympic Stadium will still be twice the size of London 2012’s stadium following an estimated $1bn of works. It will feature a retractable, arching 70-metre high roof.

It will host the World Cup’s opening match and final, as well as the opening and closing Olympic ceremonies, athletics, football and rugby sevens.

Both rugby semi-finals in 2019 and the third-place playoff are also likely to be played in it after Yokohama chose not to put forward its International Stadium – venue of the 2002 football World Cup final.

Japan Sport Council will own the stadium, which will be used for international football, national track and field championships, concerts and other cultural events post-2020.

Where will the rugby matches happen?

Most of the other matches at the 2019 tournament will be played in grounds with capacities between 20,000 and 45,000 used by teams in the J.League, Japan’s top football division. 

Japan’s World Cup bid said Hong Kong and Singapore would each host some matches, but both cities later withdrew in a blow to the goal of raising rugby’s profile across Asia.

Organisers insist they will still select host cities that can create excitement about the sport from 14 that have applied, ranging from Sapporo in the north to Nagasaki in the south. 

The final 10 to 12 confirmed venues will be announced in the first half of 2015.

Other than the Olympic Stadium, the biggest bidding venue is the 50,889 Shizuoka Stadium, home to Jubilo Iwata and Shimizu S-Pulse football clubs.

The smallest, with a proposed capacity of 15,000, is the Kamaishi Unosumai Reconstruction Stadium in an area devastated by the 2011 tsunami.

In addition to Yokohama not bidding, another surprise was authorities in Osaka putting forward the Hanazono Rugby Stadium, Japan’s oldest dedicated rugby ground.

The 30,000-seat venue opened in 1929 and the World Cup could offer an ideal opportunity to refurbish it and raise the capacity.

Games Foundation Plan

In February 2015 the Tokyo 2020 Organising Committee will submit its Games Foundation Plan to the International Olympic Committee (IOC), setting out a detailed vision.

There are 37 proposed competition venues, of which 22 need to be built and 15 already exist (including two needing major refurbishments).

Exactly half those to be built are due to become permanent legacies for the city, while the other 11 are either temporary or can be relocated.

The 1964 Games acted as a catalyst for Japan to make an extraordinarily rapid rise, from a country recovering from the devastation of World War Two to a beacon for development in Asia.

Projects included the Tōkaidō Shinkansen bullet train railway line between Osaka and Tokyo, 22 new highways, eight expressways and two subway lines.

Japan’s outstanding transport infrastructure was an important part of its 2020 bid at a time when the IOC may have wanted a ‘safe bet’ amid global economic uncertainty.

While Japan’s economy has its own difficulties, the nation’s developed status and pledge to host an “athlete-focused and compact” Olympics helped it defeat Istanbul in the final round vote.

The successful bid said 28 of Tokyo’s 33 competition venues would be within eight kilometres (5 miles) of the Olympic Village with many situated around Tokyo Bay.

But this pledge was thrown into doubt when the IOC recently urged Tokyo to consider more existing venues outside the capital due to rising labour and construction costs.

Impressively, three of the 1964 venues will once again host some of the world’s leading athletes.

Yoyogi National Stadium, which hosted swimming and basketball in 1964 and sport, concerts and conferences since, will host handball in 2020.

Masato Mizuno, CEO of Tokyo 2020’s bid, described it as “a fabulous venue combining traditional Japanese design with visionary innovation”.

Nippon Budokan, described by organisers as being to Judo “what Wimbledon is to tennis”, will again host Olympic Judo 56 years after it first did.

The Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium, situated next to the Olympic Stadium, will see table tennis action in 2020, having staged gymnastics and water polo in 1964.

Beyond the Games

Legacy planning has taken into account the social, developmental and sustainability agenda in the city’s long-term urban plan ‘Tokyo Vision 2020’. 

The Olympic Stadium lies in one of four large sports areas being developed under the vision, as does Musashino Forest Sport Centre in western Tokyo.

Due for completion in 2016, its gymnasium will host Modern Pentathlon and after the Games it will stage concerts, cultural events and local sports competitions.

Tokyo residents will also be able to enjoy facilities at the Olympic Aquatics Centre after the Games.

The centre will be remodeled and the number of seats reduced from 20,000 to 5,000 before it is opened to the public. It will still be used for national and international swimming events. 

Tokyo Metropolitan Government will own a number of venues, including the Aquatics Centre and Musashino Forest Sport Centre.

While the number of countries, competitors and venues in the Olympics dwarfs any other sporting event, it lags behind the Rugby World Cup in one respect – lasting 17 days, compared to 45 days for the latter.

This article first appeared in the Winter 2014/15 issue of HOST CITY magazine

Hosting two of the world’s three biggest sports events within the space of a year will is not just a practical and logistical challenge for Japan. 

The organising committees of both events will rely on robust ticket sales to cover the costs of delivering the events and, according to the CEO of Japan Rugby 2019, the proximity of the two events will make this a big, but achievable, challenge. 

The 2015 Rugby World Cup takes place in England and Wales, the birthplace of the sport, and is widely anticipated to be the most commercially successful yet. 

Speaking at IRB World Rugby Confex, the CEO of England Rugby 2015 Debbie Jevans anticipated a “positive economic impact on the country.” Alan Gilpin, CEO of Rugby World Cup Ltd said “We are positioned very nicely in that area”.

The 2019 World Cup is also a huge opportunity for Japan. According to Gilpin, local interest in the event is stronger than a Football World Cup would have presented.

But the head of the organising committee expressed concerns that a smaller rugby culture and the Olympic Games in 2020 might both impact negatively on the potential for ticket sales in Japan 2019.

“There are different challenges facing us in Japan,” said Akira Shimazu, CEO of Japan Rugby 2019. “Specific challenges include the fact that Japan is not a rugby heartland, so we might struggle to sell some tickets.

“We are also selling tickets for the Olympic Games at same time, so we want to make sure we are not making people choose between one and the other. Having said that, I am convinced we can fill up those seats.”

Shimazu stressed that the organising committees of both events are working very closely together in Japan, rather than in competition.

Gilpin also pointed out the cost of hosting the Rugby World Cup is not comparable to the Olympic Games. “We are not asking candidates to invest in major infrastructure projects,” he said.

Organisers of the 2015 Rugby World Cup in England have revealed that 20,000 applications have been received for 6,000 volunteer positions for the rugby union tournament.

With the application deadline having closed, organisers will sift through the contenders by holding a series of selection events between now and December.

About 4,500 volunteers will be recruited from English and Welsh rugby clubs with the remaining 1,500 places to be given to members of the public.

The host cities for the tournament are now in the process of staging the try-outs, with the successful applicants to join the volunteer team, which will be known as ‘the pack’.

The host cities are Birmingham (Villa Park), Brighton (Brighton Community Stadium), Cardiff (Millennium Stadium), Exeter (Sandy Park), Gloucester (Kingsholm),  Leeds (Elland Road), Leicester (Leicester City Stadium), London (Twickenham, Wembley Stadium and Olympic Stadium), Manchester (Manchester City Stadium), Milton Keynes (StadiumMK) and Newcastle (St James’ Park).

“The pack will be made up of 6,000 volunteers so we had approximately 20,000 applications and we are going to interview 10,000 of those. That will break down into 6,000 that will make up the volunteers,” try-out team manager Mary Cahill said.

The volunteers will perform various roles during the six-week tournament, including working in transport and accreditation services.

The UK public’s appetite for major sporting events has been whetted by the recent 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland and the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games in London, England.

More than 50,000 people applied for 15,000 volunteer positions for the Glasgow Commonwealth Games, while more than 240,000 applications were received for the 70,000-strong volunteer programme at London 2012.

The 2015 Rugby World Cup will run from September 18 to October 31.

The 2019 edition of the event will take place in Japan, with the host of the 2013 Rugby World Cup yet to be decided.

The International Rugby Board, which has governed Rugby Union under that name since 1886, is to be known as World Rugby from 19 November as part of a rebrand that underlines the organisation’s commitment to global inclusivity. 

The rebrand is linked to the governing body's stated mission “to build a stronger connection with fans, players and new audiences worldwide.”

"In a crowded global entertainment and sporting marketplace, the role of the IRB has evolved from Game regulator to Game inspirer," said IRB Chief Executive Brett Gosper.

"With this we must continue to appeal to those who know and love the sport and its heritage, while attracting, engaging and inspiring those who have no connection with the sport across multiple cultures and languages around the world.

"World Rugby collectively has the ingredients and tools to do just that. Rugby’s global appeal is founded and positioned on its unique character-building values and inclusive ethos and we want everyone to feel connected with the sport and Rugby’s ongoing success story." 

Further details of the new brand, including the new logo, will be revealed at the IRB World Rugby Conference and Exhibition, which takes place in London on November 17-18. 

"This move is more than just a name change, it is a mission statement,” said IRB Chairman Bernard Lapasset. 

"Rugby continues to thrive, reach out and engage new audiences and participants in record numbers and the IRB has been at the heart of that growth. We are committed to furthering that growth beyond our traditional family and fan base with a public that expects to be entertained, informed and interacted with.”

Worldwide participation in rugby is has tripled to reach 6.6 million players over the past four years. The IRB cites the Rugby World Cup and the inclusion of rugby sevens in the Olympic Games as contributing factors, coupled with development strategies and record investment.

The rebrand also opens the opportunity for launching new event properties. "World Rugby clearly aligns our name with our mission and allows us to organise new and existing consumer facing properties in a way that they will be more impactful and more appealing to the sport's growing global fan base," said Lapasset. 

The branding and positioning of Rugby World Cup 2015 will remain unchanged. 

To read an exclusive interview with IRB / World Rugby CEO Brett Gosper, register to receive the next issue of HOST CITY magazine for free. 

To register for the 2014 World Rugby Conference and Exhibition at the Hilton Metropole, London, visit www.irb.com/confex