Thursday 7 January 2016 17:09, UK
After the rampant All Blacks retained the World Cup, Sky Sports News HQ asks if the tournament will have a lasting effect on the sport.
SSNHQ Geraint Hughes reports..........
The 48th and final match of the Rugby World Cup saw New Zealand conquer their rivals Australia. It also brought the curtain down on England 2015.
Was the tournament a success and will it have a lasting legacy for the sport in England?
The World Cup was after all mainly in England and one would assume the host nation would benefit. Whose job is it to secure a legacy and what does that word 'legacy' actually mean?
World Rugby, the sport's International governing body who stand to make a profit of around £160m from this World Cup, believes the job of securing a legacy for England is not theirs, it's the job of the host union, which is of course the Rugby Football Union (RFU).
This opinion was revealed to SSNHQ by the CEO of World Rugby Brett Gosper. He added that every World Cup should benefit the host nation by encouraging more people to play and become involved in the sport if the host union is organised.
The RFU believes they are organised. Three years ago they launched their legacy strategy, putting in what they hope are the right foundations to make the most of England 2015.
Steve Grainger, RFU's Rugby Development Director, told SSNHQ: "It's about growing the game, getting more people engaged and ultimately more people playing the game and we hope to be judged on this in the long term by having more people playing by the time of the next World Cup in Japan in 2019."
So how do they do that? Grainger added: "The people that deliver the legacy are going to be the people in our rugby clubs around the country and the teachers in our schools and our job really is to try to co-ordinate that, make sure that we put the right level of investment to support them to do that."
In terms of having enough money, both World Rugby on a global scale and the RFU in England should be licking their lips at the statistics arising from England 2015.
Despite the host nation's poor showing on the pitch, off it England 2015 sold 2.4 million tickets, way more than any other World Cup stretching back to its humble beginnings in 1987. Commercially it brought in 50% more revenues than the 2011 World Cup. Economists estimate a boost of £1bn to the country during the tournament, while the RFU is set to make a tidy £15m profit.
However, for the RFU to fulfil the remit of their own legacy ambitions they need the help of coaches and teachers at grassroots level. Liam Moore, a former club player with Rosslyn Park and now a youth rugby coach, believes more can be done to develop the game.
Moore said: "The World Cup will make a lot of money. What needs to happen more is coaches from the clubs coming into the schools, even if it's just to set something up and help a teacher who might not be too confident."
Willingness on the ground to promote rugby couldn't be faulted in an area not traditionally associated with rugby - Tower Hamlets in east London. An area with challenging social and economic problems where football is king has had a team of 15 students from the nearby Queen Mary's University in schools throughout England 2015.
Their aim was to provide what Liam Moore was crying out for - more help and a bit of expertise on the ground. Martin Kay, teaching assistant from Olga Primary School in Poplar, had never coached or played rugby until the World Cup began in September, but now he at least is optimistic.
He said: "We'll take on board what we've seen, what we've learned and I think we can make this work. The kids seem to really love it, they understand tag rugby and behave well and understand when the tag is pulled out you stop. With football I find they may answer back a bit more!"
Martin was confident that in the long term he would still be coaching rugby and the kids still playing.
Quantifying whether legacy is successful or a wasted opportunity may take several years to answer. Tracey Crouch MP, the Sports Minister, lent her support to efforts to securing a legacy by saying she thought a decent job was under way in boosting the sport.
Sport England, who fund the game at grassroots level, have seen some increases in participation levels in recent years and, when the 2015/2016 figures are released in their Active People Survey next year, they will be hoping for another increase in the numbers playing the game.
