Rowe's joy at Cup announcement

By Mark Stevens

Exeter Chiefs chairman and chief executive Tony Rowe admits he is "over the moon" that Sandy Park has been selected as one of the 13 venues for the 2015 Rugby World Cup.

After months of behind the scenes work involving the Chiefs, Exeter City Council and tournament organisers, it was confirmed on Thursday morning that the game's most prestigious tournament would be heading to Devon.

The scheduled fixtures at Sandy Park will see two Pool C games as Tonga take on the qualifiers of the Africa One group (September 29) and the winners of Africa One meet their Europe One equivalents (October 7). The final game will see Italy meet the qualifiers of Europe Two in Pool D (October 11).

The announcement is quite an achievement for the Chiefs, who along with Gloucester, are the only two top flight clubs in English rugby to have been granted venue status for the tournament.

Commenting on the news, Rowe said: "It's fantastic and it's reward for a lot of hard work that has been put in by the club and the city council over the last few months. Initially we were told that Sandy Park would be too small to host games, but the organisers came back to us and after more discussions we've been included on their final list, so we're over the moon with the news.

"The club and Sandy Park have come a long way in the past seven years, but we are where we are today. You know if someone had said to me when we first moved here that seven years down the line we would be named as a World Cup venue, I wouldn't have believed it and I would have called them a crackpot.

"As it is, we're doing the right things and we're making great progress. I’ve already told the organisers that afterwards people will all say that the best venue of the World Cup was Sandy Park.
 
“I've no doubt every game will sell out, but we are also intending to put a big screen in the city centre and turn the whole city centre into a rugby city for the two or three weeks. As I said, we have worked very hard both as a rugby club and with the city the council to achieve this.
 
“When we arrive in 2015 there will have been a lot of work put in to make the whole of the city a rugby venue. We are all rugby people down here in the Westcountry, so we know how to do it properly.”
 
The confirmation that Italy would be playing at Sandy Park was especially fitting for Rowe, given that they featured in the official opening of the ground when Chiefs moved into their new home in the 2006-07 season.
 
Rowe continued: “When we opened Sandy Park we had an international game here between Italy A against the England Saxons, so it will be great to see them back at Sandy Park.

As everybody’s seen, since we’ve been here, as a club we’ve gone from the Championship to the Premiership.
 
“Our capacity at the moment is just under 11,000, and just prior to the World Cup we will increase to just over 12,000. That’s part of the planned development of Sandy Park, so we hope to start with the west grandstand later this year.
 
“We were told last October time that we wouldn’t be considered as a World Cup venue as we were too small, but then they came back and said yes, so we had to work very quickly to put everything together.”
 
Like Rowe, Exeter Chiefs head coach Rob Baxter can also see many positives from the latest annoucement, not least in proving to potential signings and current players alike they are a club that is going places.
 
“For me that is the most important thing, that we are seen as a club that is progressive and moving forward, hosting bigger and better games and developing the ground. That’s what

you want your players to see,” said Baxter. “If I was a player at Exeter and I saw the club talking about wanting to become an established Heineken Cup side, wanting to develop the ground, this really is a step along the way.
 
“It’s a little bit of a reward for the way the club has been forward-thinking, but it also shows that rugby in this area is a vibrant thing.
 
“The one thing the people looking at World Cup venues wanted was places where there would be an atmosphere, and sell-out crowds, and I think that’s a nice reward for us and our supporters. If you come here on a match day it’s fantastic, and I think that’s one of the reasons we’ve got it.”