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Although rugby remains a relatively low-risk sport in terms of corruption, the large betting volumes anticipated at RWC 2015 ensured World Rugby was not complacent in protecting the tournament from potential threats.World Rugby conducted its comprehensive anti-corruption and betting programme for RWC 2015 in partnership with the UK Gambling Commission and Police, which ensured access to betting information and a coordinated intelligence approach. World Rugby also engaged a betting monitoring agency which conducted around-the-clock analysis of betting markets on more than 400 global betting operators.The intelligence from the Gambling Commission, Police and World Rugby’s monitoring service confirmed that all RWC 2015 matches were free from any suspected manipulation. Education remains a central component of World Rugby’s integrity strategy and for RWC 2015 all teams, management and match officials completed both World Rugby’s online education course at www.integrity.worldrugby.org together with an in-person pre-tournament education session from a World Rugby Integrity Officer. Although many of the teams and officials had received education consistently over their careers from World Rugby and their unions, the RWC education focused on highlighting recent issues and cases seen in other sports. World Rugby Integrity Officers were also visibly present at team hotels and match venues to ensure the protection of teams and officials from persons involved in betting.The tournament also saw the introduction for the first time of a ban on players and match officials using their mobile phones, tablets 88 WORLD RUGBY YEAR IN REVIEW 2015World Rugby continued its global best practice integrity programme with a focus on protecting Rugby World Cup 2015.LEFTWorld Rugby’s Keep Rugby Onside poster is available to download in 27 languagesPROTECTING RUGBY’S INTEGRITYand laptops from the pre-match coin toss to the conclusion of the match. This policy reflects best practice in other sports where there is significant betting and was aimed at protecting the players and match officials from outside influences during this crucial period and to mitigate against accidental dissemination of inside information. The policy was well accepted by teams and match officials in light of the increased profile of the tournament and the need to ensure the risk of any integrity issues was minimised.In 2016 World Rugby’s integrity programme continues across the game with a focus on the Olympic sevens teams, all of whom attended education sessions at the Dubai Sevens in December 2015. A dedicated Integrity Unit has also been established which will continue the work to date and promote clean sport among all unions and tournament organisers.RUGBY BUILDS CHARACTER | INTEGRITY