Austin Healey: ‘Leeds and England will be a hit at Rugby World Cup’

AMID the relief of Leeds Rhinos breaking their Challenge Cup hoodoo and anticipation for the Super League play-offs, it’s easy to miss the fact that the city is playing host to a major rugby tournament next year.

This time it’s the other code, with Elland Road the venue for two clashes in the Rugby Union World Cup.

As a man with more than 50 international caps and a stint as a student at Leeds Polytechnic behind him, former England scrum-half Austin Healey is better placed than most to gauge what sort of impact it will have on the city.

“I think it will be a big success,” he says. “One thing I do hope is that the tickets don’t price a lot of supporters out of the market because it’s a great opportunity to go and see some great rugby.

“I also hope that people in Leeds embrace the teams that come there. We saw a couple of years ago how much the volunteers made the Olympics and the people in the cities can do the same with the Rugby World Cup.

“There will be so much going on both in the stadiums and outside, with plenty of opportunities to get involved.

“Leeds is a rugby hotbed and it will be a real shame if people don’t buy into it.”

Three teams – Scotland, USA and Canada – will be based in the city during the event, which gets under way next September.

They will use training facilities at the city’s three universities as well as West Park Leeds Rugby Club in Bramhope and the John Charles Centre for Sport.

Italy will face Canada at Elland Road on September 26, followed the next day by Scotland’s clash with the USA.

“As a spectacle, rugby is better than a football match,” insists Healey. “And the great thing is that you can go as a family because it’s a different atmosphere.”

England will be among the favourites to lift the World Cup
 having impressed under Leeds-based coach Stuart Lancaster.

Originally from Cumbria, Lancaster moved to Leeds as a teenager to train as a PE teacher at Carnegie College, playing at weekends for Headingley rugby club as a flanker.

He began his coaching career with Yorkshire Under-16s. In the team was Danny Care, the scrum-half Lancaster would go on to pick for both Leeds Carnegie, where he became the Elite Rugby Director in 2006, and England.
Healey says he’s been impressed by Lancaster and believes he’s taking England in the right direction.

“I like the fact he’s moved training to his back garden,” Healey chuckles, referring to the fact that England sessions have been held at West Park Rugby Club in Bramhope.

“I think he’s brought back a culture that was missing. The players were turning into footballers, you want them buying into the team ethos.

“You have to make sacrifices for the team and Stuart has embedded that and brought some pride back.

“He’s created an atmosphere where the team can develop and one that has the sort of stability you need to do well.”

In terms of England’s chances next year, Healey is similarly upbeat.

“I think they’ve got a fantastic chance because they’ll be battle hardened by the time they get there.

“There’s lots of strength in depth now. Stuart Lancaster can pick from 30 players and be happy, which is similar to the situation Clive Woodward had when England won the World Cup in 2003.

“Owen Farrell at fly-half has unbelievable character for his age, then you’ve got the likes of the Vunipola brothers, Dylan Hartley and some real strength in the midfield.

“The big test will be during next year’s Six Nations. They’re due to play Wales on a Friday night in Cardiff for their first game. “If they can win that with panache then they will set down a huge marker for the World Cup.”

SECURITY GUARD

Austin Healey is the face of the campaign for BT Parental Controls, a network-based filter that helps make it easier for families to control what their children can see online.

Healey, a father of four daughters, aged between six and 13, said: “It really does take a matter of minutes and a few clicks of a mouse to protect your children online and it will give you the peace of mind of knowing they are using the internet more safely.”

For more information visit: www.bt.com/parentalcontrols