With tomorrow marking one year to go until the start of the World Cup, the head of the IRB, who is also the Rugby World Cup Limited managing director, emphasised that next year's event, set to be held across England and Wales, "is building into a very memorable event, but not just memorable, it will be record-breaking right across the board".

Following Friday's (September 12) ticket launch, which saw a record scrum of 1,008 people herald the opening of the public sale of tickets, Gosper was confident the general "buzz" around the World Cup was great and that "people seem to be getting the message that this is an event too big to miss".

In terms of record-breaking figures, the Australian announced that "fans from over 50 nations have purchased well over 150,000 tickets through the official sponsor tour programme".

He added: "That's a 30 per cent increase on the total sales of those in New Zealand so we're already in a much better position than we were in New Zealand and we're well on track to break France's record in that area of 184,000.

"So it's a good indicator."

The Rugby World Cup 2015 is also set to be the most viewed to date, with around "20,000 hours of action screened in more than 205 territories through our rights holding broadcasters and has been a substantial uplift in Asia, South America and Eastern".

Brett Gosper is confident that Rugby World Cup 2015 will be a record-breaker, with good transaction numbers seen around the ticketing websites following their launch on Friday ©Getty Images


Not only will it be "the most connected and engaging Rugby World Cup", according to Gosper, it will also "deliver record financial return for reinvestment into the game" and become "the very first World Cup to have a clear and dedicated legacy programme".

This legacy programme, established by the IRB in partnership with the Rugby Football Union and Rugby Europe, is working to attract and retain one million new players, coaches and referees across Europe.

Gosper made these claims during a pre-one year to go media launch at The Lensbury in Teddington, where he was joined by Rugby World Cup head Alan Gilpin.

Gilpin also held the same positivity ahead of next year's rugby showpiece, stating the World Cup will be "the biggest and best to date".

He indicated organisers are confident they will sell upwards of 2.3 million tickets for the event, which would be the best for teams, players and fans alike.

"By the best we probably mean the best experience first and foremost for the players and the teams, that's what this tournament's really about, and that's been the vision very much from the partnership between the RFU, England 2015 and ourselves," said Gilpin.

"The other part of that vision is the best experience for fans.

"Whether they be fans in the venues; fans in fan parks and fan zones all around the 11 host cities; or, of course, fans watching around the world.

"And again that global television audience is the most important part of the Rugby World Cup, inspiring the next generation of rugby players for the sport globally."

Rugby World Cup 2015 is scheduled to take place from September 18 to October 31, 2015 and will see 20 nations battling for the coveted Webb Ellis Cup.

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]


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