London — Rugby World Cup 2019 in Japan will open on September 20 in Tokyo and end with the final in Yokohama on November 2, World Rugby announced on Tuesday along with the unveiling of the logo for the next tournament.

According to the World Rugby website, the logo bears two of Japan’s most recognisable symbols, the rising sun and Mt Fuji, and is the first RWC emblem since the International Rugby Board rebranded itself last year as World Rugby.

RWC 2015 will end with Saturday’s final between holders New Zealand and Australia, which will also mark the competition’s first steps into Asia.

“We couldn’t be more pleased with how England 2015 has succeeded. We believe it has succeeded at every level,” said Brett Gosper, the managing director of Rugby World Cup Limited.

“Possibly the greatest story of 2015 has been the success of the Japanese team. The Japan-South Africa game, I’m sure they’ll make Hollywood films of that one day as they did with Miracle on Ice. This has been the most competitive World Cup ever and I think the performance of the Japanese inspired all the other tier two teams so we had the smallest winning margins in World Cup history.

“I’m sure 2019 will break records in some areas but it’ll be ground-breaking. It’ll look very different, feel very different and will sound different to any World Cup we’ve ever had.”

Alan Gilpin, head of RWC, said the plan was to hold at least two games at each of the 12 venues in Japan. Details of the match schedule will be ironed out some time next year following a thorough review of the England 2015 tournament.

“There’s a lot of work to do,” Gilpin said. — Sport24.

You Might Also Like

Comments