Exploding rugby balls and Harry the thespian
a show billed as ‘Breaking New Ground’. It would seem that even nononsense rugby is not allowed an opening ceremony these days without a lofty theme and a few theatricals.
Injecting a more contemporary note, London rap artist George ‘The Poet’ Mpanga serenaded the crowd as a parade of ‘giants’ were lifted up – a living legend from each competing nation. The loudest cheers of the night greeted England’s World Cup winning captain, Martin Johnson.
Actors and schoolchildren then paraded around the giant ball which, inevitably, opened up to reveal an inner truth. The ‘exploding egg’ device has been a trusty favourite in sporting ceremonies of modern times. In this case, thankfully, we were spared a prolonged acrobatic ballet exploring the meaning of life. This egg contained nothing more mysterious than the World Cup.
YOUNG Edward Anthony clambered up a human pyramid to retrieve it. What a night for him and his family. Come Monday morning, double maths is going to seem very dull.
Finally, Prince Harry walked on with Bernard Lapasset, chairman of World Rugby, for the speeches of welcome.
There followed a peculiar sequence involving teams of rugby players hauling giant monolithic stone faces out of the ground. Anyone familiar with the hilarious Stonehenge sequence in the rock comedy, Spinal Tap, will have been biting their lip.
overall, though, this was a stylish, witty and polished prelude. organisers put the international television audience at more than 400million. They may not have been watching in Beijing and Moscow but rugby commands a vast following in many of the 83 nations who entered this competition. More than 2.3million tickets have been sold. And, unlike the £9.3billion olympics, the World Cup has been organised on a budget of £200million without a penny of public money.
If Prince Harry had been nervous, he was hardly showing it. But then he wasn’t the most nervous man at Twickenham last night. That misfortune fell to Keith Kent, custodian of the Twickenham turf.
Back in 2012, organisers had a week to remove the clutter from the opening ceremony and get the olympic stadium ready for the first race. Last night, Mr Kent had 20 minutes.