article_snippet.sent: As the World cup draws closer, it is not just in the rugby heartlands that the rugby heartlands are beginning to feel the excitement.
article_snippet.sent: Twickenham, as the home of rugby, may be gearing up to embrace the sport’s biggest tournament, but on the other side of the capital, the Olympic stadium – built for athletics and destined to be a football ground - is also quietly preparing to get in the oval-ball act.
article_snippet.sent: In Newcastle, St James’ Park, usually a footballing stronghold, is another ground about to host Rugby’s premier competition, and as former Bath, Saracens and England prop David
article_snippet.sent: London's Olympic stadium may not be a traditional rugby ground, but the buzz around the game is palpable .
article_snippet.sent: You kind of expect that kind of a buzz in rugby cities, like Cardiff and Exeter.
article_snippet.sent: But when you arrive in Newcastle and the guy who is fixing the cabinet comes over to you to talk about rugby, you realise there’s a proper enthusiasm in places that are normally dominated by football.
article_snippet.sent: Building that enthusiasm, with the prospect of high-calibre sport on the horizon, is one thing.
article_snippet.sent: But as everyone connected with London's Olympic stadium knows, maintaining it after the competition is gone is another matter altogether.
article_snippet.sent: There are bound to be studies that come out, or bits of research, 15 minutes after the final whistle of the World Cup final, and say there are only seven more children in Europe playing rugby than there were on Tuesday,’ he jokes.
article_snippet.sent: “are” in the playground now, playing rugby?
article_snippet.sent: A lot of rugby will be saying, “
article_snippet.sent: , could the Rugby World Cup produce a new generation of players and fans?
article_snippet.sent: In Real’ campaign aims to put grassroots rugby on the global stage.
highlights_snippet.sent: Flats says with the right 'constructive noise', competition can build rugby .
  