Workington to host World Cup games

Workington’s Derwent Park will host the two Scotland games at the World Cup, originally slated for Whitehaven’s new Pow Beck Stadium.

Allerdale Borough Council and the Workington club have been successful in their bid for the Tonga v Scotland and Scotland v Italy matches, which were left in limbo following issues surrounding the new stadium development at Whitehaven.

They couldn’t give guarantees that the stadium would be built in time, although Copeland Borough Council and Whitehaven will still be involved as a training base for Scotland.

More than £450,000 will be invested in to Derwent Park to upgrade it to World Cup standards.

Tournament Director Nigel Wood said: “We are delighted to announce that these two matches will be played at Derwent Park and that they will therefore be staying in West Cumbria. One of the stated values for RLWC2013 is passion for the game and we believe that is reflected by Rugby League fans across West Cumbria. So this is great news for those fans above all.

“We know that there will be a challenge for the Workington host consortium to prepare Derwent Park for the tournament. But we have been rigorous in our examination of the proposal from Allerdale Borough Council, Britain’s Energy Coast and Workington Town and we strongly believe that their level of commitment and the £450,000 investment will make West Cumbria a great part of RLWC2013.

“It is also great news that Copeland Borough Council’s hard work can still be utilised and that they will still be involved in RLWC2013 by hosting Scotland’s training base at the Cumbria Sports Academy in Whitehaven.

“Scotland will play Tonga and Italy at Derwent Park in Group C and today’s news will also allow us to release the match dates for the tournament in the next few days.”