The countdown has begun for one of the greatest sporting competitions on the planet – the Rugby World Cup.
Rugby World Cup 2015 is the biggest sporting event to take place in the UK since the 2012 London Olympics and will see the world’s top 20 teams competing in 11 host cities, including Leicester.
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De Montfort University Leicester (DMU) Professor Tony Collins is writing the first global history of the sport, due out this summer.
The Oval World looks at the impact of rugby around the world over the past 200 years, from its origins in village games right through to its place on the international stage.
“It’s educational and entertaining, as well as a social and cultural history, which shows the importance of rugby in people’s lives around the world.”
And researching the book has even taught Tony – a world-renowned sports historian – a thing or two. “It’s been a bit of a voyage of discovery for me,” he says.
“I never realised rugby was so big in Madagascar. It was introduced by French settlers who took the game there in the 1920s and it became a symbol for the country’s fight for independence.”
Months of delving into the archives of Twickenham and at the British Library have unearthed other gems – including the involvement of horror movie actor Boris Karloff in reviving rugby in America.
“He was British, and a huge rugby fan, and he helped set up an expatriate rugby club in America,” explained Tony. “In fact, if you went to a game in the 1930s in California, chances were the linesman would have been Boris Karloff.”
Featured in the book are some of the key players from international rugby, which include many Leicester Tigers legends.
Prof Collins, who is part of the International Centre for Sports History and Culture (ICSHC) has helped Leicester City Council put together an exhibition on Leicester’s links with the Rugby World Cup which is due to open this autumn at Newarke Houses Museum.
And he reckons that the sporting spectacle will bring new converts to the game: “I think we’re going to see real excitement and interest in the game – it’ll be a huge event in Britain and I think England Wales and Ireland will all be keen to prove themselves at the highest level."
On Wednesday Prince Harry launched the Rugby World Cup Trophy Tour of the UK and Ireland, to mark 100 days to go until the start of the tournament.
The Prince was joined by World Cup winners Jonny Wilkinson and Will Greenwood to send off the Webb Ellis Cup from Twickenham.
England Rugby 2015 Chief Executive Debbie Jevans said: “Our ambition is that England will feel like a ‘rugby nation’ throughout 2015 and that we deliver a tournament that both excites and inspires the nation while keeping rugby at its heart.
* The Oval World is published by Bloomsbury and is released on August 25.
Posted on Thursday 11 June 2015