The Women’s Rugby World Cup will be one of the highlights of the sporting year in 2017. It will bring the nations of the Rugby World together in Dublin and Belfast and place Ireland’s capacity to organise a major event in the spotlight.
Sport for Business yesterday met with Garrett Tubridy, the man charged with making sure that the spotlight reflects well and that the tournament not only passes brilliantly but that it leaves a powerful mark behind in terms of the development of Women’s sport.
An hour in Tubridy’s company leaves you in no doubt that this will be exactly what happens.
He wears the responsibility lightly and that in part comes from being on top of an incredible attention to detail.
Whether we spoke of transport tenders for bringing teams around, accommodation arrangements on campus at UCD where the pool stage will take place, scheduling of matches to fit with broadcast, team and attendee needs or any of a dozen other areas, Tubridy knows to the nth degree how the land lies.
Responsibility
“We have a great obligation to a big group of people within the rugby family to make this a tournament they will never forget.”
“There is nothing we can do about producing performances on the field like that of Ireland beating New Zealand in France in 2014 but we can make sure that if that happens again that a large crowd will know about the potential and will have brought their support, their commitment, their colour and noise to be part of it.”
Tubridy was appointed to the role of Director of the tournament in 2015 having spent ten years working at European Rugby managing the Heineken Cup.
“That was a great event but when the move came to Switzerland I decided, with a young family, to stay in Ireland.”
Opportunity
“The opportunity to take on the Women’s World Cup was a dream and we are building towards a great tournament.”
That building involves a detailed plan of promotional activity that is already underway.
“We launched ticket sales in August, one year out and our theme of ‘#BringIt’ is central to people not just turning up but playing a part themselves.”
“We had a great crowd for the game against England last weekend and we have Canada and the All Blacks still to come in the Autumn Series.”
“Getting not only the existing fans but the wider sporting audience to know stars like Niamh Briggs, Sophie Spence and Nora Stapleton is an important part of the build up.”
“They are the heroes on the pitch and also the role models in persuading young girls to take up the sport.”
“We have set a target of producing 2017 new players in the sport through the 2017 World Cup and that takes hold over time, not just the three weeks of the tournament.”
“We have a big weekend planned for St Patricks’ Day when the Six Nations match against England will be the highlight of a double header at Donnybrook alongside the U20 international and following on from the final of the Senior Colleges Cup at the RDS.”
“It comes on the eve of Ireland hosting England in the men’s Six Nations and makes for a pretty exciting weekend of sport.”
Trophy Tour
That weekend will also see the start of the Trophy Tour for the World Cup itself. It will be travelling to all 32 counties and applications expressing how clubs and schools will be using its presence to promote Women’s Rugby are currently being sifted to get the right schedule in place.
The preparation that has gone in to making 2017 great has been very detailed. Research was undertaken to either confirm or tear up pre conceptions about who the fan base consisted of at games.
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“What we discovered was that Women’s Rugby was seen as Rugby first, Women’s second and the appeal was to sports fans generally looking for quality sport and entertainment.”
“The biggest motivation among fans was to support Ireland and that is something which holds true regardless of gender.”
“We are working closely with World Rugby to stage a tournament that is better than any which have gone before.”
Supportive
“The IRFU have been incredibly supportive of the event and the build up in its own right and of course, with it taking place at decision time for the Ireland 2023 bid is a real bonus.”
“There is a really committed team determined to make this a great event.”
“The way we conduct the tournament will be important for the sport, for Ireland and for the partners we are working with.”
“Aon and Aldi are two main commercial partners which have come through from the Irish perspective. They have been joined by Heineken and Land Rover at World Rugby level.”
“We have also partnered with Dublin City Council, Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council, Belfast City Council, Failte Ireland and Discover Northern Ireland.”
“It’s a real team effort and everybody is excited about the potential for hosting such a major event.”
There is a long way to go between now and kick off on August 9th, a lot more of that planning and detail to be executed. There is no doubt that the right man is leading the right team to make it happen.
