Press releases

From 7 September to 20 October, France, as the organizer of the Sixth Rugby World Cup, will be at the centre of the world of rugby. A large number of works will be devoted to this major sporting event*, including the following, published by Lagardère Publishing.

Calmann Lévy is publishing three books: Les Stars de la coupe du monde de rugby 2007 (The Stars of the 2007 Rugby World Cup), by Richard Escot (an album devoted to 25 legendary players); Les 40 gaillards Coupe du Monde 2007 (40 strapping lads of the 2007 World Cup), presented by Jacques Brunel, Jo Maso, Bernard Laporte, Rodolphe Denis and Bernard Viviès (a portrait, by position, of almost all the selected French players);

Rugby Papillon, by Franck Mesnel, Yvon Rousset, Jean-Baptiste Lafond, Philippe Guillard and Eric Blanc, in cooperation with Sandrine Mouchet (the history, in primer form, of the five creators of the Eden Park brand of sportswear, who were players at the Racing Club de France; to be published at the end of August). Also noteworthy is the publication at the end of 2006 of Les Incroyables du rugby, by Sylvie Lauduique-Hamez.

The publisher Hachette Tourisme is releasing an Official Travel Guide for the event in both French and English versions. This practical guide spotlights the 12 host cities, including 10 French towns, plus Cardiff (Wales) and Edinburgh (Scotland), accompanied by maps, illustrations and indispensable practical information for supporters.

Another book, Quiz Rugby (Rugby Quizzes), published by Marabout, offers readers the opportunity to test their knowledge of the sport.

And at the end of August, Larousse is publishing the Larousse du rugby (a rugby dictionary), under the direction of Olivier Villepreux, to help fans decipher the complex “fifteen-player game”. The work is billed as “the undisputed bible of rugby” for aficionados and neophytes.

The Dunod publishing house is taking a completely different approach with the publication of Le management à l’école du rugby (Management at rugby school), by Jacques Delmas, François Leccia and Loïck Roche (a book on how the fundamentals of rugby can be applied in the business world!)

What’s more, the Marabout publishing house and the popular women’s weekly Version Femina are joining forces until 14 October: the magazine will publish a page of questions taken from the book Quiz rugby, and 100 books will be given away as prizes every week. Finally, on Thursday 30 August, Paris Match will publish eight special 32-page reports (as magazine inserts), available in the eight regions that are hosting the World Cup (the Paris region, Rhône-Alpes, Provence-Var, Languedoc-Roussillon, Nord Pas-de-Calais, Midi-Pyrénées, Aquitaine and Pays de la Loire). The special reports contain practical information on exhibitions, restaurants, monuments, tourist attractions etc., and of course, rugby-related information, including the latest news, a close-up look at the teams and stadiums, predictions for matches and so on. A total of over 387,000 copies will be distributed in these regions.

* Key figures (source: IRB and ESSEC’s European Chair of sports marketing)
TV audiences: 4 billion viewers; broadcasts of the competition to 200 countries; 2,500 media representatives; 2.4 million spectators; 350,000 foreign tourists expected in France; 8 billion euros in economic benefits for France over four years.