The Rugby World Cup trophy is going to be on tour around Ireland this summer

The build up to the World Cup will feature the trophy touring the UK and Ireland

With the Six Nations trophy now safely tucked up in IRFU HQ (we hope) it is time to turn our attentions to trying to land another one, the biggie, the World Cup, later this year. Of course, that is a huge ask for a team with such a patchy record as Ireland at that tournament but the trophy will be coming to Ireland in the summer, for a 10-day visit. Today the organisers announced a trophy tour to build up interest in the tournament, starting in Scotland on June 10. After five days there, the trophy will land in Northern Ireland on June 16 and after five days in Ulster it will spend another five visting Connacht, Munster and Leinster, with the final three days, June 23-25, being in Dublin. After Ireland the tophy will spend 10 days in Wales before a 75-day tour around England. There is no news yet on the type of events, or exact locations, for the tour but it sounds like if you ever wanted to get up close and personal with William Webb Ellis you should get a good shot. The details, as they are, can be viewed here.