Sutton Coldfield’s MP Andrew Mitchell visited the Royal Town’s Rugby Club this week to see how preparations were going for this weekend’s events – a precursor to the 2015 World Cup.
This weekend Sutton Coldfield RFC are hosting a weekend of community activity, building on the success of last year’s Beer Festival, Ruck Fest Concert and 7’s tournament.
Andrew Mitchell demonstrated pulling (and of course then tasting) a prefect pint at the Club in readiness for the Beer Festival, which starts at 3pm on Saturday. Saturday evening sees the Ruck Fest concert which showcases some of the big names in local music. “We held this event last year”, said Simon Yeo Club secretary. “When it gets coupled with the great beers of the beer festival the mix is electric”.
Event organiser Nick Pearson is excited about the prospect too. “We pulled the gig together last year wondering how it would turn out. The response was really good and positive. The opportunity to do it all again this year was one not to be missed. All the bands appear for free and the profits from the gate all go to Norman Laud. Ruck Fest is Sutton’s own little Live Aid showcasing local bands and raising funds for our local charity, it’s an event we hope to see grow and love coming back to the rugby club each year now”.
Sunday the 19th of July will be the highlight so far of the Royal Town’s Rugby World Cup year: the visit to site of the William Webb Ellis Trophy to the Club on its global tour. Paul Rogers, club President remarked “A lot of work got put into securing our bid to host a team here as a training base. You can just imagine how proud we are to be welcoming two teams in the forms of Samoa and Romania. We now have just a few months before it all starts and to have the Rugby World Cup visit us is a massive boon. One we want to make sure the whole town has a chance to share in”.
Andrew Mitchell said, “It’s a real credit to our Royal Town that when faced with an opportunity like this it’s the Town’s can-do attitude that puts us on the World map. Not many places could pull together a town bid like this but under the Sutton Rugby Club’s leadership we’ve done just that”.