The Final word

Photos and word by Bill Hadgkiss

Bill was busy on the first weekend of the Tournament as a volunteer in Brighton & Hove and he continued his Rugby journey through to the Final. During the Tournament 6,000 members of The Pack completed 22,832 volunteer shifts and 238,995 volunteering hours. Bill explains what it is like to be part of the Pack for the biggest Rugby World Cup ever... 

After my weekend working as a volunteer at Brighton & Hove, I was invited to be a involved in the closing stages of the Tournament at Twickenham. I was offered a volunteering role at the first quarter final, South Africa v Wales, and the Final!

 

Bill at Twickenham with other Pack volunteers

An amazing experience, much different in scale to the Brighton games with 80,000 fans at each match, but very much the same roles. 

Fans arriving at Twickenham

At Twickenham for the Quarter Final I was part of the team welcoming spectators to the stadium on the shuttle buses from the Richmond Fanzone and Waterloo with the reverse at the end of the match.

Bill at Twickenham

Yesterday at the Final was special. Apart from the occasion and atmosphere, I was located right outside the stadium, south stand, by the iconic ‘Line Out’ Statue where it seemed every spectator wanted photos taken for them in front of the statue, with their national flags, which we gave out to everyone. 

Handing out flags to spectators

Fans arriving at Twickenham

One personal story from the day was reuniting an All Black fan who had been separated from her husband and two friends, without her ticket or mobile phone.

The whole of my experience over the past 12 months as part of The Pack has been something I will always remember, from the initial application, the Brighton Launch at the Royal Pavilion, the training sessions at Twickenham, the Brighton & Hove weekend and finally, yesterday, the Red Arrows overhead just prior to kick off, the roar from the stadium at full time, and a spectacular firework display immediately after the presentation of the Trophy.

The Final!

Thank you for allowing me to be part of the experience. 

As the Tournament draws to a close, we look back at some of the highlights from the opening weekend as Brighton & Hove Celebrated Rugby...

(Photo credits for this page: www.snapitnow.co.uk)

Brighton & Hove City Council organised decorations in the city for the first weekend of the Rugby. Official branded posters and banners mixed with contributions from arts charity Same Sky to add a local twist to the city's look.

Dressing the city - Same Sky's Rugby themed flags for the Clock Tower

Official branding for the Fanzone

The council organised the official Fanzone on the seafront. A big screen on the beach showed the matches played during the weekend and a range of fun activities took place along Madeira Drive. 

Activities on Madeira Drive at the Fanzone

Activities on Madeira Drive at the Fanzone

Same Sky's Rugby arch at the start of the Fanzone

The Fanzone from above

A couple of volunteers from The Pack,
6,000 volunteers were chosen to be part of the Tournament

Watching the Brave Blossoms make history with their victory over the Springboks at the first match of Rugby World Cup 2015 to take place in Brighton & Hove

Fans in the Fanzone

Fans in the Fanzone

Sunday morning saw a horse parade pass through the Fanzone

A second day of sunshine in the Fanzone

Celebrating more than Rugby!

The Webb Ellis Cup arriving at the Fanzone

Transport was co-ordinated around the city to help fans get about from Brighton station to seafront to stadium. ER2015 transport team, all local transport providers, the stadium and the council worked together to keep the city moving. 

A member of The Pack at Brighton station

A music and dance festival called Pitch Perfect was organised by the council to provide a celebratory welcome for anyone passing by and fans walking from the station to the seafront. 

Performers at Pitch Perfect

Performers at Pitch Perfect

Watching performances at Pitch Perfect

The Fanzone continued to entertain throughout Sunday

Performers in the Fanzone

Fans in the Fanzone

Fans in the Fanzone

Fans in the Fanzone

Fans in the Fanzone

Fans in the Fanzone

Performers in the Fanzone

Performers in the Fanzone

After more than two years of planning, with collaboration across many different organisations locally, nationally and internationally, the Tournament matches were played in our city. Brighton & Hove - a place of Rugby history!

Fans at the stadium! The Rugby action was amazing!

Rugby World Cup 2015 in Brighton & Hove

Rugby World Cup 2015 in Brighton & Hove

As well as all this, the city hosted the Trophy Tour and Welcome Ceremonies as well as celebrating with the Festival of Rugby and much more. 

Brighton & Hove was part of one of the largest sporting events in the world and the city rose to the occasion. Now after six weeks the final match of the Tournament is about to be played at Twickenham tomorrow. Rugby World Cup 2015 will soon draw to a close but the memories will last forever. 

View from The Pack

By Bill Hadgkiss

What a weekend for Brighton & Hove which was witness to one of the greatest upsets in Rugby World Cup history when Japan beat South Africa on Saturday 19 September.

The sun shone from a clear blue sky throughout the weekend and the Brighton Community Stadium was full on both days with supporters wearing their country's colours and waving thousands of national flags distributed by members of The Pack.

Pack members were ready at the stadium to help match goers
Photo credit: www.snapitnow.co.uk

The role myself and other Pack members were responsible for was to give our visiting spectators a memorable experience from the time they arrived in the city until their departure. 

Fans in the stadium
Photo credit: www.snapitnow.co.uk

I was fortunate in being based at the Stadium on both days and undertook a variety of functions including meet and greet fans arriving on the shuttle buses from the Fanzone and Park and Rides, distributing flags, duties at stadium entrance gates regarding bag checks and separating tickets for scanning, marshalling queues post-match into channels for the various Park and Ride departure points and helping spectators with restricted movement from arrival points to the stadium entrance.

There were several memorable moments. Two elderly gentlemen with walking sticks arrived on a Park and Ride bus because their lift to the Stadium had not turned up. They were quite anxious by they time they arrived. I was able to collect two wheelchairs from our information point and, with a colleague, take them to their seating area. I then arranged their return journey to the P & R after the match. 

Fans waved homemade banners and flags handed out by the Pack
Photo credit: www.snapitnow.co.uk

One Samoan spectator gave me a match ticket since his friend was unable to come and asked me to find a good home for it. I took it to the ticket office where it was passed to a very happy fan who was ticketless! 

Bill in the stadium gallery

As we were not needed during the match, we all watched from a gallery near to the Workforce Centre. During the final 15 minutes of the South Africa v Japan game and the scenes at the final whistle were incredible. Every neutral in the stadium were willing the Japanese to achieve the impossible...and of course they did!

There is no doubt at all the Brighton Community Stadium, their staff, Rugby World Cup 2015 and members of The Pack made this event truly memorable, this being acknowledged by many, many spectators that I spoke to after the match. I thoroughly enjoyed every single minute and the memories will last a long time!

Celebrating Rugby in the sunshine

Brighton & Hove celebrated in the sunshine as the long anticipated first weekend of Rugby World Cup 2015 arrived. 

As the Tournament began, the two matches played at the Brighton Community Stadium were played out to enthusiastic crowds watching from the stands and thousands more watching on a big screen on the beach. 

The seafront Fanzone proved popular throughout the weekend as fans enjoyed the action while relaxing on Brighton's famous pebbles. The Pack, some of the 6,000 volunteers selected to assist visitors, were on duty and on form.

There was also plenty to do and see on the main road running alongside the beach, with free activities to try all day. 

At one point, there was even a military horse parade. 

Only a short walk away from the Fanzone, two days of dance and music was performed in the heart of the city's theatre district on New Road, adding to the carnival feel. The Pitch Perfect festival was set up on the walking route from the train station to the Fanzone. 

Hundreds of artists shared their skills, entertaining spectators and passers by in twelve hours of performance organised especially for the Tournament weekend.

After the dramatic events of Saturday's match, which saw Japan beat the Springboks in an unexpected victory, everyone was eager to see what Sunday's match would yield. By the time the final whistle blew, the Samoans had claimed their first win of the Tournament beating USA with the result 24 -16. 

With Samoa's victory following on from Japan's triumph, both the teams who stayed as well as played in Brighton & Hove won their matches. A proud moment for the host city.  

By the end of the weekend Brighton & Hove had claimed a place in Rugby history thanks to the Brave Blossoms mighty match and the warm welcome given to Rugby World Cup 2015 by all in the city. 

The Tournament got off to a splendid start. Now all that remains is to enjoy the drama of the remaining matches as the teams battle it out to the final on Halloween.  

Photo credit: www.snapitnow.co.uk