England World Cup winner Jonny Wilkinson popped in on Grasshoppers RFC in Osterley this week to launch the volunteer programme for Rugby World Cup 2015.
Wilkinson, who kicked the drop goal in the 2003 Rugby World Cup final against Australia which landed England the trophy, is an England 2015 Ambassador.
And Grasshoppers, a club built on the strength of its volunteers, was seen as provided a fitting venue for the launch.
Wilkinson said: “Throughout my career I have seen the vital role that volunteers play in the running of rugby clubs at all levels. Whether it’s helping with club administration, coaching, cleaning kit, driving teams across the country or stewarding on match days, these are the people who allow the game to thrive.”
Named ‘The Pack’, the programme will be made up of 6,000 volunteers, who will be the faces of the tournament. While most will come from rugby clubs in England and Wales, a further 1,500 who are new to rugby will be found through a national campaign, with the aim of keeping them involved in the game beyond 2015.
Wilkinson was joined at the launch by seven Grasshoppers RFC volunteers, including Louise Latter, who wasted little time in trying to recruit the star.
She said: “It was incredible to have Jonny Wilkinson sitting next to me in our relatively modest changing rooms. I apologised that our facilities weren’t perhaps of the standard he was used to, but he said I’d be surprised as ours were actually much better than some he’d been in within professional rugby.
“It’s not every day you have the chance to chat to a World Cup winner, so I thought I might as well make the most of the opportunity. I explained Grasshoppers are always on the look-out for more players or volunteers if he fancies joining whenever he comes back to the UK.”
