Page 46

As the dust settles on the enormously successful event that was RWC 2015, attention now shifts nearly 10,000km east from Twickenham to Tokyo as Japan prepares to stage the tournament in Asia for the first time. And just like their English counterparts, the year could not have gone much better for the next hosts with events on and off the field coming together to create a real anticipation for the tournament right across the rugby-loving world and also, crucially, within Japan itself.When winger Karne Hesketh slid over in the corner for a last-gasp, match-winning, myth-exploding, cosmos-altering try against South Africa, it opened the hearts and minds of the Japanese people to rugby. It ensured the names of Ayumu Goromaru, Fumiaki Tanaka, Hitoshi Ono and many others would be elevated to the sort of status normally reserved for the country’s footballers, baseballers or sumo wrestlers. TV viewership records were smashed for Japan’s subsequent matches in the tournament and newspapers cleared their sports pages to cover coach Eddie Jones and his team’s heroic exploits. Amazingly, rugby was the third most Googled word in Japan during 2015.46 WORLD RUGBY YEAR IN REVIEW 2015While it was a huge year for the organisers of Rugby World Cup 2015, it was also an important time for those charged with delivering the next incarnation of the tournament four years hence.RWC 2019 EXCITEMENT GROWING AS JAPAN PASSED HOSTING BATONRWC 2019CLOCKWISE FROM ABOVEJapan’s heroics at RWC 2015 have heightened anticipation for the next edition of the tournament;Japanese fans, young and old, at RWC 2015But the performance of the Brave Blossoms was not the only significant event of 2015 for Rugby World Cup 2019. In March, the 12 venues were announced with a geographical spread guaranteed across the length and breadth of the country. Later in the year, it became clear that the new National Stadium in Tokyo would not be completed in time to use for Rugby World Cup and a revised roadmap was developed.In October, the dates of RWC 2019 were announced and a vibrant new logo unveiled in London. As the RWC 2015 final approached, the logo unveiling symbolised the transition from future to current host. With its emphasis on unity, the RWC 2019 logo symbolises how the tournament will bring the people of Japan and rugby fans around the world together in a spirit of solidarity and friendly sporting rivalry. The tournament will connect host cities and attract people from around the world to experience all that Japan has to offer. The strong and distinctive logo combines the rising sun with another iconic symbol of Japan, Mount Fuji, showing the unity of sun and land. Together with the familiar World Rugby shield, the logo tells a story of not