Google celebrates the 2019 Rugby World Cup today
The 2019 Rugby World Cup kicked off Friday in Tokyo’s Ajinomoto Stadium, and Google has marked the occasion with a Doodle of a scrum.
This year marks the first time that the Rugby World Cup, held every four years, has had a host in Asia in the competition’s 32-year history.
Kicking off the competition are Japan and Russia—they will be competing in front of 49,970 fans in Tokyo and a predicted domestic TV audience of 40 million, the Guardian reports.
The 2019 World Cup has been billed as “the most open tournament in history” by commentators as traditional powerhouse nations New Zealand, England, Ireland, Wales, South Africa and Australia are all “real contenders.”
Over the next seven weeks, 20 teams, including the U.S. (currently ranked 13th in a world) will compete for the title; the winners returning home with the Webb Ellis Cup. The trophy is named after a schoolboy, from the U.K. town of Rugby, started what is now known as the modern sport of rugby after he grabbed a ball and ran with it at school.
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