Rugby gears up for international qualifiers
This week sees the arrival of the William Webb Ellis Trophy, commonly known as the ‘Bill’, on Grand Cayman.
The Bill is rugby’s equivalent of the Olympic Torch and arrives at the start of the third largest sporting event anywhere in the world, the 2011 Rugby World Cup , which will officially start at the South Sound Rugby Ground at 10:30 am on Sunday, 20 April. The Cayman Rugby National men’s team will play Trinidad & Tobago in game one of the International Rugby Board (IRB) qualification tournament for the NAWIRA region.
The two teams are the highest ranked Caribbean participants in the tournament, holding 57th and 58th places respectively.
In total, 96 countries will participate in the RWC 2011 over the next four years, until 20 teams emerge at the finals to be held in New Zealand on 23 October 2011.
The Cayman Rugby Football Union (CRFU) and the Cayman Islands have received this almost unique accolade due to hard work, dedication to youth development programmes and their track record of hosting excellent events over the past few years.
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To put this into perspective, only seven other countries in the history of the sport of rugby have ever hosted the opening match of a RWC.
The Bill will stay in Cayman for four days and plans are in place to let as many people as possible to see the trophy and have one in a lifetime photograph opportunities with it.
Only four countries in the World have ever won the Rugby World Cup, New Zealand, Australia, South Africa and England and to have this trophy here on Grand Cayman is regarded as a unique honour.
Jacques Laurans, the French representative of the IRB council of the International Rugby Board, is also making his first trip to Grand Cayman to see the matches and the island first hand.
Mr Laurans brings with him a number of high ranking officials and plans are being made to introduce these designers and governors of rugby worldwide to as great an audience as possible, and to allow them to experience as much of island life in Cayman as possible.
Total Rugby, the IRB’s filming and radio producers will also be in Cayman for the last two legs of the tournament. They will have film of the opening of the RWC 2011 and will be filming the latter stages of the tournament and producing highlights as well as interviewing characters in the game of rugby, characters in Cayman and tourism and sports tourism within the Cayman Islands.
This will be packed into a 30-minute programme that will then be aired to over 150 million receivers worldwide, highlighting what rugby and life in Cayman is all about.
Eight teams will participate in the Cayman tournament and the winner of this tournament will move on to the next round.
The last domestic rugby match before preparations fir the qualifiers started in earnest matched members of the women’s national teams against a mixed team in a full-sized rugby match. Despite the best efforts of the weather, the fixture provided great entertainment for the spectators and a good work out for the women, who will be travelling to Guyana next month.
The ‘Bill’ will be visiting local schools on Friday, 18 April, before being the centre piece at the - RWC Fundraising dinner.
On Saturday, 19 April, in will be on public display at Hurley’s Grand Harbor from 9:00 am to midday, with more public display opportunities planned for the rest of the day.
On Sunday, 20 April, it will be on Display at the RWC opening matches and at the VIP reception after the close of the day’s play.
Source: Cayman Net News
