Balfour bloggers

Pupils from Balfour Primary Tag Rugby team were invited to Brighton Community Stadium recently to learn about how the venue will be transformed for Rugby in the months ahead.

Seven pupils took a tour of the ground and met with the Executive Director of Brighton & Hove Football Club to find out more.

In this home changing room

The trip was organised by Albion in the Community (AITC) and also involved the pupils working with the AITC team to create blog content on a set of iPads.

Their finished blog entries will be posted here soon.  

In the stands

World class Rugby coming to Brighton & Hove this spring

The first ever Rugby match to be played at the Brighton Community Stadium will be on Friday 20 March 2015. The England U20s take on France U20s in the final in the Under 20s Six Nations ahead of the Seniors match the next day at Twickenham.

Tickets are selling fast as people are eager to be part of this sporting first. Offering an exciting start to the weekend, the match is attracting families and first time Rugby goers as well as long time fans of the sport. The match kicks off time of 7.55pm gives plenty of time to get to the stadium after school or work.

England Rugby 2015 will be using the occasion as an opportunity to test elements of match day delivery and see the football stadium in action as a Rugby venue ahead of RWC 2015 matches taking place in Brighton & Hove later in the year. The U20s will be the first Rugby players to hit the Brighton pitch before two RWC 2015 games taking place on the first weekend of the Tournament on September 19 and 20.

James Chisholm is a key player in the U20s England squad, appearing at No. 8. James is from Haywards Heath and was a pupil at Brighton College. He visited the Brighton Community Stadium on 18 February to have a look around.

James Chisholm (Photo credit Paul Hazlewood)

James said: “I think it’s awesome we are going to come here, it’s a great venue. We want to win and will be giving it our all as always. It’s always a good game when we play France. Hopefully this match will draw people in. If you haven’t seen a live Rugby match before then this would be the one to start with. It’s a friendly atmosphere for spectators and a chance to see top sport at a very easy to get to stadium. I am looking forward to being back in Brighton playing for England on 20 March.” 

James currently plays alongside his brother Ross at Harlequins as well as being part of the England U20s. He previously captained England’s U18s to victory in the FIRA European Tournament and was part of the winning U20s England team in the 2014 IRB Junior World Championship.

Tickets are currently still available for the U20s match and can be bought from the Albion Booking line on 0844 3271901. Adult tickets cost £15 and children aged under 18 are £5. There are discounts for students, families and people aged over 65 years. 

Motivational Maggie the Machine

Maggie Alphonsi MBE is passionate about Rugby and the transformational impact the sport has on her life.

Known as “Maggie the Machine” for the power she brings to her game, Maggie started out playing in a London school and rose through the ranks of Rugby to become World Champion this summer.  The England women’s team won the final of the seventh women's Rugby World Cup against Canada in Paris 21 - 9 on 17 August 2014.

After winning the Tournament, Maggie took on the role of Rugby World Cup 2015 Ambassador, along with Lawrence Dallaglio, Will Greenwood and Jonny Wilkinson. The four ambassadors will be sharing their sporting enthusiasm and making official Rugby World Cup announcements in the run up to the Tournament.

Maggie Alphonsi after her team's victory
(Photo credit: RFU archive)

Maggie said: “I visited Brighton’s football stadium at Two Years to Go until Rugby World Cup 2015. It’s an absolutely brilliant venue. Brighton has big games in the Tournament and it’s going to be amazing. The venue atmosphere of a football stadium is different and it will be good to see Rugby on the pitch. Also the Brighton people are the best, lots of fun and sure to enjoy it all.”

Inspiring young players

Balfour Primary School’s Tag Rugby Team was invited to be the “Guard of Honour” at an England vs Australia match played at Twickenham.

The trip included a tour of the RFU Museum, visiting the changing rooms and a chance to play on the pitch.

The experience was a reward for the school’s 2013 – 2014 Tag Rugby Team placing second in the 2014 National Schools Final.

The RFU gave two extra tickets. These were given in a random draw to two of the current Year 6 Tag Rugby Team – Fred and Esmee. 

Our trip to Twickenham by Esmee and Fred

Esmee and Fred

Esmee, Balfour Year 6 Tag Rugby Squad 2014 - 2015

Going to Twickenham, watching a live rugby match and performing the Guard of Honour was brilliant. The whole experience was amazing but my favourite part would be standing in front of 82,031 people performing the Guard of Honour – just surreal! 

I couldn’t believe how massive they were! Standing on the real Twickenham grass and scoring tries, standing in exactly the same place as professional rugby players was incredible.

Next year the RWC are taking the players to Brighton. I am desperate to go and see them with my sisters!

Fred, Team Captain, Balfour Year 6 Tag Rugby Squad 2014 - 2015

The experience was amazing, playing on the pitch and walking out to do the Guard of Honour to 82,000 people at Twickenham. The Australian and English players were so close to me, as they sung ‘God Save the Queen.’

After we played on the pitch, before the game, we walked backed through the tunnel, Chris Robshaw was inches away from me! Then when we finished the Guard of Honour we did a minute of applause for Philip Hughes. 

After that we went back to the changing rooms before the match began, just before that, when we were on our way back, we brushed past Jonny Wilkinson who was commentating on the match!!

I will never forget it!

Balfour pupils at Twickenham

People Power!

Rugby World Cup 2015 is recruiting 6,000 volunteers to welcome the world to the Tournament next year. More than 20,000 people applied and 10,000 were shortlisted for interviews for the chance to join “The Pack”. 

Selection events, called Try Outs, have been taking place across the country since June and will run until December 2014. The local Try Out took place at the University of Brighton in July. The Try Outs include an exhibition area showing the history of Rugby World Cup and the relevant host city. 

At the Try outs

All applicants were able to browse the exhibition before a 20 minute one to one interview about why they should join The Pack.

Interview time

Bill Hadgkiss hopes to be part of The Pack, he was among the shortlisted applicants and is now waiting to hear if he will be chosen to join The Pack. 

Bill explained why he decided to apply: “I was inspired by the way the volunteers contributed so much to the success of the London Olympics. I also have a love of the sport of Rugby, a game I played in my younger days and that my son still plays for Uckfield RFC. I thoroughly enjoyed the invitation to the local One Year to Go event when the Webb Ellis Cup visited Brighton & Hove. And I am pleased to be able to contribute to this blog at this stage, and hopefully into next year if my application is successful.”

Pack applicant: Bill Hadgkiss

The majority of ‘The Pack’ consists of volunteers from rugby clubs in England and Wales, recognising those who support the game week-in week-out. There are 1,500 places being allocated to members of the public who have previously applied for the roles through the official volunteer selection process. The aim is to make sure everyone has had the chance to be part of one of the biggest sporting events in the world. 

Applicants will find out in early 2015 if they will be in The Pack and training will take place later in the year. 

Meet more of our bloggers

Passionate about Rugby - Alice and Hannah

Local players: Hannah and Alice are on the right of the Webb Ellis Cup

Introducing Alice

"I originally returned to Rugby, having played 7’s at college, when I came back to Brighton after graduating from university. I have always found that joining a sports team is a great way to meet like-minded, friendly people and having heard good things about Hove WRFC, I decided I wanted to try and play championship level Rugby. 

"Rugby has always been one of my favourite sports to play as it is both challenging and physically demanding, whilst requiring the utmost level of teamwork from one to 15.  It is these attributes of Rugby that motivated me to return to the sport having undergone shoulder surgery to ensure I would keep playing from years to come! 

"I love the fact that you can learn something new at every training session, overcome different challenges during every game, and having recently moved from playing Centres to Fly-half, the learning-curve never ends.
  


"Hosting part of the Rugby World Cup 2015 in Brighton & Hove, not only means the chance for the local Rugby community to be able to advertise the sport and its popularity within the area, but also for the players to feel a part of the largest and most prestigious celebration of Rugby. Personally, having never been to the Brighton Community Stadium before, it is going to be amazing to see international Rugby played within my home town." 

Introducing Hannah

"My initial introduction to Rugby was through my big sister who has been a keen Rugby player for most of her life. From a young age I was all about football, right up until my early twenties when my sister finally persuaded me to attend a training session for her beloved team Hove RFC. Since then I haven’t looked back, I’ve played two seasons with Hove, numerous Rugby tournaments and also attended London & South East Academy. 

"Having RWC2015 come to Brighton & Hove is really exciting. Having been to the Brighton Community Stadium quite a few times to watch Brighton & Hove Albion play, it will be even better going to watch the sport that I now play and love. This is a great opportunity for rugby in Brighton & Hove and also gives people that may not already follow or play Rugby the opportunity to learn about Rugby altogether!

"Bring on RWC2015 in B&H!"

Super Heroes

Spiderman, Princess Leia and Astro Boy join Brighton & Hove’s Rugby World Cup 2015 celebrations

By Paul Hudson

Blogger: Paul Hudson

Every Rugby World cup creates new Super Heroes for the sport and 2015 will be no different. Will it be Sam Burgess for England, Brian Habana for South Africa or Ma’a Nono for New Zealand? 

Whatever happens on the field, Brighton & Hove won’t be short of heroes next year as we are expecting hundreds of fantasy heroes to attend the celebrations on Madeira Drive

Cosplay – short for costumed play – has its roots in Japan but is now a huge international phenomenom.  Favorite sources include manga and anime, comic books, video games, and live-action films. 

Brighton Japan - Brighton’s annual festival of all things Japanese - will be returning in 2015 on the same weekend as Rugby World Cup 2015 begins and while Japan’s Rugby team is in the city for their match at the Brighton Community Stadium. With support from Brighton & Hove City Council, we will be linking with Brighton Japan to put on the first ever Cosplay Carnival.

Creative designs

Brighton Japan have pulled together a fantastic group of people and organisations to work on the project including Graham Churchyard, Costume Special Effects Supervisor on the Batman and Harry Potter movies and Paraiso School of Samba, winners of this year’s top award at the Notting Hill Carnival.

Imaginative displays

I’m delighted to be helping co-ordinate this amazing event and will be blogging about it over the next 10 months.

Why Cosplay I hear you say? Brighton & Hove is famous for trying out new ideas and for taking the quirky into the mainstream. The Body Shop and Virgin Records were founded here. The internationally acclaimed show Stomp started here. We are also a city that is known for tolerance and diversity and where you are free to be whoever you want to be. 

Where else but Brighton will you find celebrations for Rugby World Cup 2015 being led by Astro Boy, Princess Leia and Spider Man dancing to Samba beats from Rio?

Madeira Drive: Cosplay Carnival detination
Photo credit Adam Bronkhurst