FALCONS WELCOME WEBB ELLIS CUP
Under-13 players from Percy Park and Whitley Bay Rockliffe had their pictures taken with the trophy after playing friendlies with Falcons as their captains.
Mark Jackson, World Cup project lead for Newcastle City Council, said: “It was a really special day and the kids are all looking forward to seeing some of the games next year when they take place at St James’ Park.
“The trophy was right in the room with them and it was such a close encounter they have come away thinking not many people get the chance to do this.
“They’ll see it on telly every four years, and there’s one team that wins it every four years, and one person who will lift it every four years.
“But it became really accessible to those kids, more believable, and that won’t happen again until the final hundred days before the tournament starts.”
Newcastle will play host to three World Cup matches next year with St James’ Park staging South Africa versus Scotland, Samoa versus Scotland and Tonga versus New Zealand.
To mark the trophy’s visit to Kingston Park, 125 children picked countries from a hat and were paired up in teams with Falcon players who come from them giving tips and advice to the budding stars of the future.
The ‘friendly festival’ aims to ease under-16s and their coaches into each new season by organising competitions where winning is not emphasised.
Organisers hope to roll it out across the country next year and get 75,000 kids playing on the day of the cup’s arrival.
Councillor Ged Bell believes hosting the cup will inspire the next generation of young rugby players, saying: “Newcastle has a growing reputation for hosting major sporting events and they don’t come much bigger than Rugby World Cup 2015.
“Having the cup here also underlines the close working relationship between the RFU, the council and the Falcons, which will put us in a good position to maximise the social, cultural and economic benefits that come from hosting three Rugby World Cup 2015 matches.”