There are just 100 days to go until England and Fiji get the Rugby World Cup 2015 underway at Twickenham on Friday, September 18.

To mark the milestone, local rugby clubs, sport providers and other leading figures in the city gathered at the War Memorial Park to announce a programme of events taking place in the city during the lead up to the tournament.

Coventry Sports Week will kick-off festivities on Tuesday, July 28 until Friday 31 July, with people able to take part in an action-packed week of a variety of sports including various rugby-themed activities at Broadgate, in the city centre.

The highlight of the summer will be the 2015 Rugby World Cup Trophy Tour which will stop off in Coventry on Sunday, August 16.

A festival of rugby will be held at War Memorial Park from 12-4pm to welcome rugby’s greatest prize, the Webb Ellis trophy, to the city and local rugby clubs will also gather for a celebration event and photo opportunity at Coventry Cathedral.

Other rugby events happening in the city include the Singha Premiership Rugby 7s, which will be held at the Ricoh Arena on Friday, August 21 and the Engage! International Youth Tag Rugby 7s tournament which will bring together children from all over the world for a festival of rugby and sporting values between Friday, September 4 and Friday, September 11.

Wasps will then take on Samoa in a Rugby World Cup warm up game at the Ricoh Arena on the weekend of Saturday 5 or Sunday 6 September.

Live screenings of the home nations’ games will also be played on the big screen at Millennium Place throughout the RWC 2015 tournament, giving people the chance to support England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales during their quest to lift the Webb Ellis Trophy.

Coventry’s Rugby World Cup programme of events has been developed by Warwickshire RFU, the Engage! programme and Coventry City Council, working together with Wasps, Coventry Rugby Club and other local clubs across the city.

Charlie McGinty, of Warwickshire RFU, said:

The Rugby World Cup will be a fantastic opportunity to grow the game of rugby in Coventry and the wider Warwickshire community.

The programme of events that Coventry is putting together with the support of our Warwickshire RFU development team can help us to maximise this to its full potential.

The City of Coventry already has a very strong rugby tradition which we should be proud of and I encourage everyone to get fully involved in the events planned over the next 100 days leading up to the start of the Rugby World Cup.

Cllr Abdul Salam Khan, Cabinet Member for Culture, Leisure, Sports, Arts and Events of Coventry City Council, said:

It is fantastic that the city is using the excitement of the build-up to the Rugby World Cup to inspire local people to get involved in local events. We are very pleased to be working with partners to host an exciting series of events which will appeal to people who already know and love rugby but which will also tempt new people to have a go at the game that is so well loved across the globe. This summer of rugby is part of our sports strategy which aims to get people of all ages and abilities involved in sport – for fun or competitivel.

Tom Clift, programme manager of Engage!, added:

We saw with the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games how Coventry came together to celebrate global sporting events and this is a really special programme which gives the people of Coventry the opportunity to have their own Rugby World Cup experience in their home city.

Coventry’s programme of events offers something for everyone to engage in and be part of, bringing local clubs, sport providers, schools and the public together to build on our vibrant rugby heritage and to encourage more people to get involved in rugby and celebrate the game.