Rugby World Cup 2015 off to record-breaking start

Rugby World Cup 2015 organisers, England Rugby 2015 and Rugby World Cup Limited (RWCL) have today announced record-breaking engagement at the halfway point of the Pool stage, as total match attendance approaches the 1 million mark.

The compelling and competitive nature of the Rugby on display and the exhilarating Tournament atmosphere that has accompanied it nationwide has captured the hearts and minds of fans not just in England, but globally as well, with official Fanzones full to capacity, #RWC2015 trending globally on all match days, and TV viewing figures reaching record levels.

Rugby World Cup 2015 is on track to be the biggest Rugby World Cup to date. Total match attendance figure across the 19 games played so far has reached 972,921, buoyed by two consecutive record-shattering attendances at Wembley with 89,267 fans attending the Ireland v Romania match at Wembley Stadium, surpassing the previous weekend's record breaking Rugby World Cup crowd, set a week prior, of 89,019.

Official Fanzones throughout England and in Cardiff have also proven to be a massive hit, with 378,000 visitors to date passing through the doors stationed in cities across the country since opening nearly a fortnight ago. Brighton's Madeira Drive Fanzone set the standard during Japan's shock 34-32 Pool B win over South Africa which saw 20,000 fans visit the Fanzone to enjoy the action. The Cardiff Arms Park Fanzone atmosphere was also electric as Welsh fans relished their team's 28-25 defeat of host nation England.

Furthermore Leicester, Manchester, Milton Keynes and Newcastle will all be opening up their Fanzones to fans in the coming weeks as Rugby World Cup 2015 comes to their area.

Rugby World Cup Limited has confirmed the Tournament has attracted some of the highest broadcast audience figures around the globe, including in Japan, the host nation for Rugby World Cup 2019. 20 million people tuning in for Japan v Scotland represents the second-highest ever national TV audience in Rugby World Cup history, behind only the 20.7million viewership for the Rugby World Cup 2007 France v England semi-final.

In the UK, a peak audience of 9.4 million UK viewers tuned in to host broadcaster ITV's coverage of the Rugby World Cup 2015 Opening Ceremony and kick-off match between Fiji and England on September 18. The England v Wales match was watched by an average of 10.4 million viewers, the largest television audience for a rugby game in the UK since the 2007 final.

Overall, Rugby World Cup 2015 is shaping up to be one of the most talked about global sporting events either with social media activity also set to radically surpass the total volume achieved across the whole of New Zealand 2011 by the end of this weekend. The official Rugby World Cup App, available at rugbyworldcup.com, has already been downloaded by more than 2 million fans. With digital content in four languages, more than 18 million people have paid visit to rugbyworldcup.com, the official #RWC2015 hashtag on Twitter has trended globally on every single match day so far, and video views on social platforms have exceeded an astounding 60 million hits.

World Rugby Chairman, Bernard Lapasset, said: "Rugby World Cup 2015 is proving to be a very special and record-breaking global celebration of rugby that has fan experience at heart. This is already the most talked about Rugby event ever on social media and the most talked about sporting event of 2015 in the UK, and there is no doubt that the unforgettable moments are inspiring new audiences around the world to get active and get into Rugby.”

England Rugby 2015 Managing Director, Stephen Brown, said: "We're delighted that fans new and old have taken Rugby World Cup 2015 to their hearts, and are embracing all the excitement, drama and passion that comes with hosting such an exciting world-class event on home soil. We are thrilled to secure two Rugby World Cup record breaking attendances within the first two weeks of the Tournament and approach a total of 1 million fans enjoying such compelling rugby in our match venues. There is a true celebration of rugby taking place across the country, and to see nearly 400, 000 fans pass through our Fanzones on matchdays and non matchdays, really reflects the reach of this event.” 

Fans are being urged to snap up the remaining tickets via official channels so as not to miss out on the spectacle. Tickets are still available at tickets.rugbyworldcup.com and travel and hospitality is available at hospitality.rugbyworldcup.com

 Fans can also take advantage of the Official Resale Service via tickets.rugbyworldcup.com if they can no longer attend matches. This is the official, safe and secure way to sell to tickets to fans at face value.