Almost Tournament time!

It is not long now until the first match of Rugby World Cup 2015 at Twickenham on Friday 18 September.

Brighton & Hove is gearing up for the first weekend of the Tournament when two matches will be played at the Brighton Community Stadium.

• Saturday 19 September: 4.45pm South Africa v Japan (Pool B)
• Sunday 20 September: 12 Noon Samoa v USA (Pool B)

Preparations are underway to celebrate Rugby in the city as we help kick off RWC 2015. Residents and visiting fans will soon be heading to the stadium to enjoy the matches or soak up the Tournament atmosphere at the official Fanzone on Brighton beach. Everyone will be able to enjoy the experience of the only seaside venue of the Tournament.

The visiting teams with bases in Brighton & Hove, Japan and Samoa, will be greeted with Welcome Ceremonies when they arrive in the city. At the 100 days to go milestone, we shared how Westdene Primary School, in Brighton, is going to be part of the Welcome Ceremony for the Japanese team exactly one month from today.

The boys have been practicing with their dedicated teacher and shared one of the rehearsals recently so we could see how they are getting on. The Welcome Ceremonies taking place in Brighton & Hove will happen one month from today, on September 11.

Find out more about how the boys are getting on and hear their rehearsals at https://youtu.be/gEhK-3JW3wE

100 days to go!

Today marks 100 days to go until the start of the Tournament on 18 September.

To celebrate Westdene Primary School’s Boys Choir shared their enthusiasm for Rugby World Cup 2015 in song! They also took time out at the start of the school day to throw about a couple of Rugby balls on the school field.

The school's boys’ choir is one of 20 from schools in England and Wales selected to be part of the ceremonies that will officially welcome the teams to Rugby World Cup 2015.

Westdene Primary School Boys Choir
(Photo credit: www.snapitnow.co.uk)

Emma Bright, Music Co-ordinator for Westdene Primary School in Brighton, said: “We are thrilled Westdene Boys Choir has been chosen to perform at the welcome ceremony for Japan for Rugby World Cup 2015. This is probably the most prestigious performance we have ever given & the boys are already working incredibly hard to be sure they give their best performance possible!”

Emma and the choir
(Photo credit: www.snapitnow.co.uk)

The Boys Choir is one of three choirs at the school. It has been running for just under six years and currently consists of 22 boys aged eight to ten years old. As part of the application process, Emma submitted a short clip of the boys performing at the school’s Spring Concert.

During the ceremonies, the successful choirs will sing the official Rugby World Cup anthem “World in Union”. The boys have so far learned one verse of the song. They will be working hard to be pitch and word perfect by the time the Japanese team arrive. 

The ceremonies will also include the formal presentation of official Tournament caps and Rugby World Cup 2015 participation medals.

100 days to go

Managing Director of England Rugby 2015, Stephen Brown, said: “Congratulations to Westdene Primary School on being selected to be involved in the Welcome Ceremonies for Rugby World Cup 2015. We were really pleased with the response that we got from schools wanting to be involved. The standard of the applications was very high and I would like to thank all schools that took the time to apply.”

Below is the test piece Emma sent as part of the application to be one of the choirs to perform at RWC2015 welcome ceremonies in September. The film was taken at the school's Spring concert.