Rugby Club Issue 53 | Page 63

world cup preview WORLD CUP PREVIEW W ith the Six Nations now complete and Ireland crowned as Champions the attention can turn towards the Rugby World Cup in September. The event is set to bring thousands of visitors to the UK, creating 12,000 new jobs and providing a £2.2 billion to boost the economy. Matches will be played across 11 different cities and 13 different venues. Speaking recently of the World Cup, RFU Chief Executive Ian Ritchie said, “This is an extremely important year for us. We have an overarching objective to develop rugby in England [