Thursday 28 August 2014

Team bases for Rugby World Cup 2015 announced

England Rugby 2015, the organising committee for Rugby World Cup 2015, has announced the approved list of 41 team bases for the Rugby World Cup, with Pennyhill Park, The Lensbury and St George’s Park among the selected venues.
 
The team bases will host the 20 participating teams during the tournament, which takes place in England and Cardiff between 18 September and 31 October 2015.
 
Pennyhill Park in Bagshot, Surrey will be the main training base HQ for the England team.  
 
“We are delighted to have been selected to host England here at Pennyhill Park,” said Pennyhill Park GM Julian Tomlin. “With our close association with the RFU and England Rugby, we’re thrilled to be part of this global sporting event once again. It feels like only yesterday that we were congratulating England on winning the 2003 Rugby World Cup when the squad was staying here with us.
 
“Since that exciting time we have not only been the official England training base but have also made great strides in the quality of the pitch and have added the new training facilities,” Tomlin added.
 
Ireland and Argentina will book into St George’s Park, home to The FA’s National Football Centre in Staffordshire.
 
St. George’s Park Managing Director, Julie Harrington, told CN: “This is really exciting news for St. George’s Park and we are delighted that we will be part of the Rugby World Cup 2015 next year, which is one of the biggest sporting events in the world.
 
“Both teams staying here will compete at Wembley Stadium and I look forward to welcoming both Ireland and Argentina to St. George’s Park to ensure they have everything they need to prepare for the tournament in the best possible environment,” Harrington added.
 
Hazelwood, London Irish’s newly-completed all-purpose training complex, and The Vale Resort in South Wales will host the Welsh team, while The Lensbury Club in Teddington and St Mary’s University, Twickenham will host reigning world champions New Zealand, as well as South Africa.
 
General Manager at The Lensbury, Ivor Turner said the venue had a vision three years ago to be a part of Rugby World Cup 2015 and embarked on a large capital investment to build the facilities to host the world’s top rugby teams.
 
New Zealand Manager Darren Shand said: “The All Blacks are looking forward to coming to England and Wales next year for Rugby World Cup 2015. We will be based in London, Cardiff and County Durham at the Tournament and, while preparing for our Test matches will be key, we are also looking forward to experiencing the local culture in each of the areas.”
 
The search for team bases was launched via an open tender process in April 2013 and just under 100 bids were received from across the country and in Wales.


A Rugby World Cup 2015 team base will consist of an outdoor pitch, indoor training facility, a swimming pool, gym and hotel and will be used by the competing teams in the lead up to and during the six-week event.
 
Selected team bases for Rugby World Cup 2015:



  • England: Pennyhill Park

  • Wales: London Irish RFC and The Vale Resort

  • Ireland: St George’s Park; Celtic Manor and Newport; Surrey Sports Park and Sports Wales National Centre

  • Scotland: Hartpury College; Leeds Metropolitan University; the University of Leeds and Newcastle Royal Grammar School

  • New Zealand: The Lensbury and St Mary’s University; the Sport Wales National Centre and Darlington Mowden Park

  • South Africa: The Lensbury and St Mary’s University; University of Birmingham; Gateshead; Eastbourne College and University of Brighton

  • France: The Vale Resort and Trinity School Croydon

  • Australia: University of Bath and Dulwich College


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Article source: http://www.espnscrum.com/scotland/rugby/story/209379.html


Team bases for Rugby World Cup 2015 announced

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