Rugby World Cup 2015

Tania Mathias Excerpts

Friday 11th September 2015 Commons Chamber

[Dr Tania Mathias (Twickenham) (Con)]

After today’s incredible debate, I can truthfully say, “Now for something completely different.” In ancient Greece it was traditional for the actors in a heavy tragedy to return to the arena to perform a comic piece, because that is what the audience needed. My speech is not a comedy, but it will be a joyous piece; it is about rugby.

Soon the world will turn oval-shaped. In just 44 days maybe 3 million rugby fans will visit 11 cities, and maybe £2.2 billion will be contributed to our economy, but definitely some world-class rugby will be played in our country. My constituency will host 10 of the matches, including the first and last, because Twickenham is the alpha and the omega—we are the home—of rugby.

I am pleased that there is already a legacy of sorts, because many of the people who were fortunate enough to get a ticket online also donated. The rugby world cup has partnered the UN World Food Programme and already 1 million World Food Programme meals have been funded, so the legacy has already started with the ticketing process.

VisitEngland is preparing for the sports tourists, and I am told that they tend to spend more money than other tourists.

[Iain Stewart (Milton Keynes South) (Con)]

Milton Keynes is one of the host venues for the rugby world cup, so I just want to add my congratulations to VisitBritain, VisitEngland, Destination Milton Keynes and all the other tourist organisations that are doing so much to market not only the world cup but the other tourist attractions in the home areas.

[Dr Mathias]

I absolutely concur with my hon. Friend. I have been to Milton Keynes on occasion. If it is anything like Twickenham, it will be looking even better as a result of the rugby celebration. All the host cities have already got the bug, which is brilliant.

We have a legacy in Twickenham that I do not believe my hon. Friend has in Milton Keynes, because we have had a Herculean transport project. I commend England Rugby 2015 for what they have been doing. Some residents have already said that their access permits have made the situation even better than it is on an average match day. I know that for every single match the project will be managing the traffic and making things as easy as possible for residents.

Of course, the best, most positive legacy will be if England wins the world cup.

[Chris Bryant (Rhondda) (Lab)]

Wales. [Interruption.] Division!

[Dr Mathias]

I am half Welsh, I must confess.

We will have a great legacy. I have to say that the England team is looking exceptionally good. Having watched them in August in the friendly with France and seen Anthony Watson score those two tries, there is a chance that England could win the world cup. However, as the Minister is well aware, there are no guarantees in competitive sport. That is why we enjoy sport at this level.

[Mark Pawsey (Rugby) (Con)]

My hon. Friend’s constituency is the home of the game of rugby; my constituency is its birthplace—where it all happened. The tourism opportunities she has mentioned are incredibly important. The challenge will be for England to do well in order to maintain that tourism offer. That is no more true than in my constituency, where we have a fan zone where we are expecting visitors, but we have no games. Let us all hope that England do particularly well during the tournament.

[Dr Mathias]

I absolutely agree. I feel for my hon. Friend in not having any matches. Yesterday we had the Webb Ellis cup touring, and that invigorated people. I can assure him that we were thinking of him, with that trophy named in honour of his area.

For the legacy, we have to go beyond the stadium. The Rugby Football Union in Twickenham is an amazing sports business with annual revenues of over £150 million. It is doing great things in England for rugby, especially for schools and clubhouses up and down the country, and for training. Importantly for Twickenham, it has introduced rugby to some of our schools; I wish it was to all of them. It has given free tickets to some matches to residents who live nearby and are affected by the matches taking place. The RFU also has Home Turf, which is funding street festivals in Twickenham. Very commendably, it donates to charities such as the Dallaglio Foundation, which uses rugby to give young people other skills—life skills—showing that rugby goes beyond the stadium. The RFU is also very energy-conscious. That is important in my constituency, where many people are highly environmentally aware.

The RFU has a very good museum that holds exhibitions that are pertinent to locals. I was very proud that their exhibition of world war one heroes who were also rugby players had my grandfather’s medals—his Royal Flying Corps medals and his Military Cross—because he was a world war one hero and also a great rugby player.

We in Twickenham, and the RFU in particular, do look to the stadium. However, my concern, and the reason for this debate, is that some people in Twickenham consider the stadium to be more like a giant UFO that just happens to there. Some residents do not have on repeat on their smartphones iconic tries such as the one by Sir Gareth Edwards in the Barbarians-All Blacks game in 1973. Some residents do not think of those in the line-out statue as giants but more as extraterrestrials who just happen to be there. We have to look out for residents who are not completely in love with the game—we have to go beyond the sport.

This House has already debated the legacy of the Olympics, which led to many people taking up more sports.

[Chris Bryant]

The number’s fallen now.

[Dr Mathias]

I will come on to that. I hope that people in Twickenham and in England generally will take up rugby. In my area, pre-school children are learning the ball skills of rugby through Rugbytots, which is independent and not run by the RFU.

[Mr Robin Walker (Worcester) (Con)]

Coming from a rugby-mad constituency, I am grateful to my hon. Friend for initiating this debate. I want to mention the fantastic efforts of the Homeless Rugby community interest company. It has been doing brilliant, pioneering work in Worcester with the Warriors Community Foundation and will, in parallel with the rugby world cup, host the first homeless rugby international between England and Scotland in Newcastle later this year. Does my hon. Friend agree that raising awareness of homelessness can be a very important part of the legacy of this rugby world cup?

[Dr Mathias]

I agree with my hon. Friend. I was not aware of that programme and I hope he will get me a ticket for that match—that is always a plus. It is amazing how much of an effect one sport can have. As I was told by the people running Rugbytots, it is not just about the sport: rugby is incredibly important for children developmentally. Women’s rugby and women’s rugby 7s are doing incredibly well, and it is wonderful to hear about the project in my hon. Friend’s constituency.

Just yesterday I came across, from an experiential point of view, wheelchair rugby. I played it for about 15 minutes and was the weakest member of the team, but it is a brilliant sport that is thoroughly exciting to watch and frightening to play. It has come to everybody’s attention only because of the world cup. Rugby can provide a substantial legacy.

The hon. Member for Rhondda (Chris Bryant) tried to make a point about the legacy of the Olympics. I believe that the Olympics changed people’s sporting behaviour, but before the Olympics a social anthropologist told me that the games would not change behaviour. They said it was possible to predict that people who were sporty before, during and after the Olympics would still be sporty people now and that they might take up another sport or increase their sport participation for a time. The problem was that those who were non-sporty people before, during and after the Olympics, might watch and enjoy the games but would not change their behaviour, and would remain non-sporty people. Although I am passionate about rugby, I am concerned that a lot of people in Twickenham are not going to take it up, so the legacy has to go beyond that.

I was excited, surprised and pleased to hear this morning that the RFU has announced a community project at Murray Park in Whitton. That is fabulous, because the park is more than 100 years old and has a brilliant friends group. I am amazed and delighted that a legacy is already being created. I believe it will be of the order of £10,000, which is great, bearing in mind the annual revenue. I am also told that the community will be able to discuss and bid for other projects, which is absolutely brilliant. I am also amazed and delighted that just this morning the RFU announced that Twickenham may get a capital project. That is exactly what I wanted. Twickenham could get so many things from this once-in-a-generation opportunity.

A resident told me that there was a plan a while ago for affordable housing on the RFU land north of the stadium and that it would be wonderful if we could have such a legacy. My constituency is desperate for affordable, key-worker housing. Friends of the River Crane Environment—an incredibly important group in my constituency—tell me that the Duke of Northumberland’s River is right up against the RFU land. This is another opportunity for the community and the sport of rugby to come together to enhance our rivers and our biodiversity, which we are passionate about. That can also be part of our legacy.

Rugby is an amazingly exciting and creative game, and the legacy should also be exciting and creative. Everybody knows about the A316 because of all the lane closures and the need for a resident’s permit. One of the footbridges over the A316 needs upkeep and maintenance. It is desperately needed and used by primary schoolchildren going to St Stephen’s school, and we have campaigned to keep the bridge. How fabulous it would be if a “rugby bridge” could be one of the projects. There are so many legacy options. I am very glad that such excitement and creativity has begun today.

The volunteers have enhanced Twickenham. As I said in the debate on the Olympics, when I went from west London to the Olympics, I was blown away by the volunteers. What England Rugby 2011 have done, even at friendly games, with the Pack—that is what we call the volunteers—is transforming the experience of rugby in Twickenham. I am very pleased that the RFU will try to continue that legacy.

We have a chance to make a step change in Twickenham. It is an oval world, but a new world for rugby and Twickenham. I think that rugby has taken Twickenham for granted; perhaps Twickenham has taken rugby for granted. This is a chance to make a change. It is great that one community project has been announced today—I applaud it—but I challenge the RFU and other rugby bodies to increase the legacies both financially and by continuing them long term. We need such community involvement not just in world cup year, but in the years to come. I thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker, and other hon. Members for this debate.