Two years from today sees the start of Rugby World Cup 2015 - where Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park will host five matches, involving some of the best teams in the world. With work underway to prepare the Stadium for the tournament and its long term tenants West Ham United and UK Athletics, London Legacy Development Corporation chief executive Dennis Hone says it will be a fantastic venue, where rugby fans from home and abroad will be able to enjoy some great matches.

To mark the two year countdown, a scheme was launched today by the Rugby Football Union (RFU) to inspire young people in Newham to get involved in rugby. As part of the RFU’s Posts in the Park scheme, Newham, as hosts of RWC2015, can install up to ten single sets of posts supplied by the RFU between now and the start of the tournament.

A set of specially designed rugby posts has been installed at Newham Leisure Centre in Prince Regent Lane, Plaistow.  Mayor of Newham, Sir Robin Wales, and Will Greenwood, a member of England’s 2003 World Cup-winning side and ambassador for England Rugby 2015, today kicked over the first balls with 15 pupils from Plaistow’s Cumberland School.

Dennis Hone, chief executive of the London Legacy Development Corporation, said: “It is really exciting that in just two years time Rugby World Cup 2015 begins and Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park will host some of the best teams in the world as part of an amazing festival of rugby. With a new roof and retractable seating it will be a fantastic venue where rugby fans from home and abroad will enjoy some great matches in an iconic setting.”

Sir Robin Wales said: “It is important that we make the most of the opportunities that hosting Rugby World Cup 2015 brings. We want to inspire people, particularly our young people, to take up rugby and sport generally. The sight of single rugby posts springing up in parks and open spaces where none have been seen before will help us to get more people playing. Anyone will be able to try their hand at replicating the most historic moment in the history of English rugby when Jonny Wilkinson kicked a drop goal to win the World Cup in Australia in 2003.”

Will Greenwood added: “Posts in the Parks is a great concept. It is a real opportunity to raise interest and awareness of the game in Newham. For the RFU to have a legacy programme in place now means that more people can have access to rugby – not only in the lead-up and during Rugby World Cup 2015, but long afterwards.”

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