1. RWC 2015 Jack Williamson

2. ASSUMPTION FOR SOCIETAL  ASSUMPTION: I assume that the media coverage in this year’s world cup will be far greater than previous years due to how technology has developed.

3. FIRST SPEECH FACTOR: SOCIETAL - SELF  The first sociological factor I will be using is societal. This is a media based factor and is how the people were connected to the world cup or how they kept up with it through media and how it developed over many years.  This factor impacts me because it keeps me connected and up to date with the Rugby World cup.  I personally love following the world cup games and the players in the world cup because I am a huge rugby fan.  This year, 2015 has so far been the best year of media coverage ever and I feel this is due to technological development and social media.  http://www.rugbyworldcup.com/news/94041

4. SELF  The speech factor of Societal impacts me because I will not be able to keep up with the sport and love easily if the media coverage was not as active.  I would have to see the game live on T.V or watch the replays to know the score as appose to just searching it up on the internet or finding out through social media.  The way rugby has been broadcasted not only through T.V but also through the internet and social media keeps me connected with the teams and all the news of the world cup and the more you are connected the more you can enjoy the world cup. Rugby fans can be a part of the action and the media coverage unlike any other Rugby World Cups before.  The positives of having the Rugby World Cup so well broadcasted for is that I have sky so I can easily view all the games, highlights and replays throughout the world cup. Also viewing the results of games through the internet is a huge positive of how the media has influenced me.  A negative would have to be the atmosphere difference between seeing the game live and through media. Also the negative critics about the All blacks games especially from an English perspective is a negative for the media and for people viewing the media, including me. The All blacks have been viewed as not giving the English viewers their money’s worth when going to the games because they have not played their A game yet.

5. SOCIETAL - OTHERS  The societal speech factor affects others by them also being connected with the game especially if they are a rugby fan.  This speech factor is all about media and how it produces the rugby games and how it is shared and the different ways it is shared. This could mean through several different ways like T.V, the news, online and on social media.  The most common source of media for teenage rugby fans now a days is through the internet, I had asked 10 people and 8 of them had said they were notified that there was a game coming up or when the world cup actually started through social media and the internet.  Also, 9/10 people I had asked said yes to whether or not the media coverage will be easily accessible over this world cup. The media is connecting more and more people to the game due to how easy it is to support the World Cup or your specific team.  A negative once again for others would have to be the people seeing the all blacks playing bad and the critics about their games. Another negative could be the people who do not have sky. This makes it much more difficult to view the Rugby World Cup games and to see the results. Other issues could revolve around internet access as well.  A positive would have to be the large coverage sky has of the world cup for the people who have sky. This makes it much easier to see and view the games and for people with internet access to also see the results and highlights of games.

6. SOCIETAL - OTHERS  Nearly 10 million people worldwide watched the opening ceremony for the Rugby World cup with an average of 8.7 Million viewers per game. There is also a rugby world cup channel that receives 181 million views and a Facebook page that has surpassed 3 million views with an official rugby world cup video that has nearly hit 2 million views.  This tells me that other people have found out about the world cup via media and view it through media as well.  Having such a large fan base of the Rugby World Cup is also due to the history of the world cup and the viewers and fans that is has gathered on the way.  England has a population of just over 53 million people which is a large portion of the viewers of the Rugby World cup due to England hosting the cup. New Zealand I assume is one of the highest viewer's of the Rugby world cup as well because of the fan base built around the All Blacks.

7. SOCIETAL – SOCIETY  The factor of Societal impacts society by all media broadcasters doing the best they can to make sure all rugby fans worldwide can view the games for the Rugby World cup and also the results  Many Rugby fans have been viewing World Cup’s in the past for years, knowing the history of the game and the history of how well their favourite team does, making them want to continue to watch them.  Media broadcasters have seen this and made this years world cup easily accessible via media in many different forms. People I had interviewed also agreed, 9/10 had agreed that the coverage of all the World Cup games is easily accessible via the media.  This factor impacts society because the media allows people worldwide to stay connected with the rugby world cup. This then brings more people in to watch the rugby world cup and includes all rugby fans when it comes to viewing the rugby world cup.

8. SOCIETAL – SOCIETY  This factor advantages society by the media being so well broadcasted worldwide keeping fans connected with the game and giving everyone as much possible coverage of all the games in the world cup to allow all fans of different teams to view the cup. 30 different channels worldwide are broadcasting all 48 rugby world cup games live which gives so much opportunity for rugby fans to view the game.  Disadvantages that could follow with the world cup include some people in certain countries that may not have access to any media coverage. In England, 2 channels give coverage of all 48 live games in the world cup which some people may not be able to afford.

9. SOCIETAL - SOCIETY  An assumption being made for this societal factor is that there is millions of viewers worldwide due to the media coverage and the amount of channels broadcasting the rugby world cup live.  This links in with my other societal factor because fans of the world cup most likely have watched many previous world cups. This is what all T.V or media broadcasters have noticed and have taken advantage of to broadcast the media as much as they can to all rugby fans. In the past media coverage has been really good but they want to improve on it so much more which is what they have done with this years world cup.

10. HISTORICAL  My second speech factor is Historical. This is the history of the Rugby world cup and why so many people would be watching or viewing the world cup. Fans have been picked up throughout the sport of Rugby, creating historical events and making it relevant today as to why so many fans have tuned in to watch the Rugby World Cup 2015.  Assumption: I assume that there is a large amount of people viewing the All Blacks in the Rugby World Cup because of the great success this team has had in the past and this team also winning the last Rugby World Cup.

11. HISTORICAL – SELF  The speech factor of Historical impacts me because I know of the history of the World Cup and how significant it is especially to New Zealand.  I Have grown up watching the world cup games and seeing the great success New Zealand has had in the past and how seriously we take this sport.  This speech factor impacts me because of how highly rugby is looked upon in New Zealand. I myself play rugby at its always been an honour to play for a high levelled team or to be selected for a squad. I also feel there is pressure for me to a certain degree to play rugby because my family loves rugby.  I feel pressure and I am only at school level rugby so to see the amount of people who viewed the final in 2011 which was just over 2 million people broadcasting in NZ and 61,079 attending the game live at Eden park, this means there is a huge amount of pressure for the All Blacks to win because all of New Zealand rests on their shoulders.

12. HISTORICAL – SELF – POSITIVES  The positives of this speech factor is how the history of the world cup has picked up millions of fans throughout the years of the sport of rugby being played.  I am one of these people who is influenced by the sport but since I was not born when the first couple of world cups were held, I am connected with those world cups and ones after I knew of the game of rugby because of the media.  I am connected to the sport through the media, growing up watching them on T.V wanting to be an All Black and supporting them all the way.  The history of the sport is so highly looked upon in New Zealand that every individual has been affected or influenced by the History of this sport.  9/10 people I had interviewed agree that the media coverage in the past for the Rugby world cup has been good, most explaining that this is what has connected them with the game also and is what has given them knowledge of the sport and how well New Zealand has done.

13. HISTORICAL – SELF – NEGATIVES  A negative of the speech factor of historical is that some of the history in the past revolving around rugby in New Zealand has not been good. Especially events like the Spring Bok tour, New Zealand being divided between people who think its not right not allowing black people to play and the other half claiming its just a game.  This has caused lots of controversy in the past but other things that have been looked poorly upon in the 1995 Rugby world cup was France getting a waitress to deliberately poison the all blacks water bottles, giving them all food poisoning 48 hours prior to the game.  This is some negatives that have occurred throughout the history of the sport, it being such an important event to so many countries, sometimes drastic actions were taken.

14. HISTORICAL – OTHERS  The Historical speech factor affects other people by the knowing of New Zealand's rugby history and why the Rugby World Cup is so significant to NZ. Knowing NZ’s history of how well they have done in the past and the significance of the sport to New Zealand makes people understand why fans are so committed and why there are so many in New Zealand. It also accounts for why so many people have viewed the All Blacks games.  So many families in New Zealand have had a member of the family play rugby in any of the 500 clubs available in New Zealand  All Black’s fans know of how well New Zealand is as a team and how they are serious contenders to win the Rugby World Cup this year. This is why 340,000 New Zealanders tuned in to watch the All Blacks verse Namibia game which is also the most viewed game so far in the World Cup. That number is 8.1 percent of all New Zealanders aged 5 and over watching the All Blacks.  In 2011, the most viewed pool game was the All Blacks verse France which had 60,856 people attending the game at Eden Park with 210,000 people broadcasting in New Zealand. The amount of people who attended this game live tops any other number of people attending to any other Rugby world cup pool game prior to this.

15. HISTORICAL – OTHERS  This speech factor of historical advantages others because the history of the World Cup has brought countless amounts of people together to view the same sport.  It has also united countries to view and support their teams in the Rugby World Cup  Families and friends are brought together to view their favourite teams. Even in the advertisements for the 2015 Rugby World Cup, Heineken have made a T.V ad of a man running down the street at 6 in the morning to get to his friends house so he is not late to see the game. Heineken have used this ad to show the commitment New Zealanders have to the sport and how it unites friends to watch the game that they love.

16. HISTORICAL – OTHERS  This speech factor may be a negative for some people who are not fans of the sport of rugby. This may be a negative for them because there is so much history of rugby in New Zealand that some families may not want to be apart of or care about.  Some families may support other sports like Basketball or Football but they feel it does not get any were near the recognition it deserves because rugby is all that is talked about in New Zealand.  The media may also play a factor In this, portraying rugby as a sport for royality in New Zealand, putting pressure on families and younger generations to play a sport they might not be interested in or want to play.  Even in my interview, only 5/10 people actually stated they were a fan of rugby, this is between an age group of 16-19 with some people aged 40 and above. This is also the most common age group of kids being pressured in to playing rugby which they may not like or want to play.

17. HISTORICAL – SOCIETY  This speech factor impacts society hugely in New Zealand. The reason for this is the significance this sport has to New Zealand, so many people are talking about the Rugby World Cup and how well the all Blacks will do.  The Media is booming at the moment as well especially in the New Zealand herald. Everyday in the sporting section, an article or a couple pages will be talking about the progress of the All blacks squad or who they will be facing next etc.  This is then seen by the local community as they want to keep updated by the progress of the All Blacks, then making it the big thing everyone is talking about.  The expectation of how well the All Blacks will do is also set very high which also makes more people in society view their games too.

18. HISTORICAL - SOCIETY  The positives of the this speech factor of Historical is how it has brought New Zealand together as a nation for one game and one purpose.  61,079 people attended the 2011 final and in 1987, 41,035 people attended the first Rugby World cup final, both hosted at home and all people in the stadium wearing black. The people in the stadium may not know many people there but everyone was gathered for one purpose and for one reason, to support their nations team to win the World Cup, all brought together because of 1 event and 1 team.

19. HISTORICAL – SOCIETY  A negative of the speech factor of Historical has affected society by dividing a nation in some instances and in some infamous events in rugby’s history in New Zealand. Especially events like the Spring Bok tour, New Zealand being divided between people who think its not right not allowing black people to play and the other half claiming its just a game.  This has caused lots of controversy in the past but other things that have been looked poorly upon in the 1995 Rugby world cup was France getting a waitress to deliberately poison the all blacks water bottles, giving them all food poisoning 48 hours prior to the game.  This is some negatives that have occurred throughout the history of the sport, it being such an important event to so many countries, sometimes drastic actions were taken.  It has affected society in New Zealand because of how controversial these events were in their time, Rugby was such a great sport to view and was looked so highly upon in New Zealand. That is also what fuelled the divide of a nation, the significance that sport has on New Zealand.

20. HISTORICAL – SOCIETY  The history of rugby as a sport has grown so significantly in its popularity, this year’s tournament will reach an estimated audience of four billion, compared to the more modest 300 million in 1987. This shows how many people in society are fans of the game and how many people will view the game.  This also links in with my other speech factor of media because majority of the fans viewing the games will be watching them through some form of media. Viewing the games live on one of the 48 possible channels available worldwide to watch the Rugby World Cup games.

21. CONCLUSION  These factors interrelate and impact the rugby world cup because of how media has broadcasted many of the events and games that are now history. The history of the game has been broadcasted through the media and is viewed by many people nowadays. Most people in my generation learn the history of the game through the media and viewing it online, I know I am one of these people who’s knowledge came from the media. Media has impacted World cups in the past by bringing people together from different countries to view one sport, this has contributed to the history of the sport and has made it such a popular game. Millions of viewers every year watch the rugby world cup and every year the numbers increase. Starting from 300 million viewers in 1987 getting all the way to an estimated 3 billion viewers this year.  History is then brought back to life through the media during the build up of this years rugby world cup. For a whole month before the world cup started, all of the previous years world cup games were played on Sky sports to get everyone excited for the world cup. This also connects people with classic games watching players they have not seen play in 20 years, some of the games I watched were childhood memories once again showing how media has connected New Zealanders with the history of the sport.

22. ASSUMPTION ANALYSIS  I assume that the All Blacks will not do as well at this year’s rugby world cup because there is not a very large All Blacks fan base in England compared to in New Zealand.  I do not necessarily agree with this assumption because they All Blacks are the number 1 team in the world right now, if they could not play well in other countries then they would not be the best in the world. Yes playing at home in front of fans usually does make the All Blacks play better but still playing over seas should not be a problem for them. The All Blacks should be able to win and play to their best ability no matter what country they are in. This may advantage other teams because they are playing at home but it does not necessarily disadvantage the All Blacks.

23. ASSUMPTION ANALYSIS  I assume that the media coverage in this year’s world cup will be far greater than previous years due to how, technology has developed.  I agree with this assumption. Media coverage will be at its best this year not entirely to do with technological development but the amount of analysis shows they have and the constant replays being shown on sky sports also contribute to the media coverage. The online fan bases and websites that post scores and results also help with the media coverage to do the best they possibly can to keep the fans connected and updated with the game and results. With the amount of increase in viewers every year, the media coverage needs to constantly get better because of the amount of people watching. If the coverage is not good enough or the results of a certain game is not posted online then a very large portion of the rugby world cup fan base will be affected by this.

24. JUDGEMENTS OR PERSONAL STATEMENTS  Some personal judgements or statements I would like to make about the world cup is firstly I think they should have a channel specifically for the Rugby World cup in sky sports. Yes they have played every single live game and play lots of replays and highlights but then all other shows that are usually played during those times will not be shown or other shows will be prioritized over World cup games. A separate channel with all the live updates, highlights, game analysis and replays would be much better and many fans would appreciate this.  Something else I would like to make a judgement on is the new games or challenges that have been introduced for this world cup. Games that have been introduced is one that the New Zealand Herald has done which is called dream team. This is where you can chose an entire international squad out of every current international player playing in the world cup. I am one of the many participants in this game and what it does is keeps me updated on all the recent match scores and how well each player does. Each player is given a score each round depending on how well they play, this game then lets me know each round who is playing well and who is not which also keeps me connected with all of the teams in the world cup. When it comes to challenges, TAB have introduced a betting game were each person who puts on a bid gets to chose who will win all 48 games in the world cup, if they get every game right then they will win a jackpot at the end. These type of competitions are what get lots of people involved with the rugby world cup and also focuses on the younger generation of people.