TORONTO, ON - APRIL 1: The Webb Ellis Cup visits a school in Toronto as part of the Rugby World Cup Trophy Tour, delivered in partnership with Land Rover and DHL on April 1, 2015 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (Photo by Vaughn Ridley/Getty Images for England Rugby 2015)

While the Rugby World Cup may seem like moons away, the countdown to England has already begun. More than 140 days out from the world tournament, Canada just completed the Sevens World Series in Japan, finishing fourth in an event that served as a part of its preparation in the buildup to the World Cup. Toronto rugby fans got a glimpse of the Webb Ellis Cup recently as part of a world tour.



The Webb Ellis Cup, the most coveted prize in rugby, has been touring the world and aims to visit 15 countries in 12 months. When it stopped in Toronto in early April it featured Canadian Women's Rugby World Cup 2014 runner-up Laura Russell and three-time Olympic women's hockey gold medallist Jennifer Botterill.

The pair took part in a Rugby vs. the World skills challenge, where rugby skills were pitted against hockey challenges and vice versa, held at the The MasterCard Centre for Hockey Excellence and Lakeshore Collegiate Institute Sports Centre.

The Webb Ellis Cup tour skills challenge along with Canada’s strong performance in the Sevens tournament has rugby fans talking about what lies ahead in September when the World Cup kicks off.

Canada’s team manager Gareth Rees, who has played in four World Cups, said the win over the All-Blacks was a first, and it had given the Canadian players some much added confidence.

“We’re in a difficult pool. We play against the European champions and Ireland. We have the French who always perform well at World Cups. Romania are always tough when we play them. We’ll be focusing on performance and raising our game,” he said. “Canada tends to play their best at World Cups. That will be my push as manager. We want to maximize performances.”

Rees explained that one of the biggest hurdles in preparing for the World Cup is getting the main playing group training together, as the players have commitments split into Euro League contracts, Rugby Sevens tournaments and domestic duties.

“We haven’t spent a great deal of time together. But, we’ll have July and August together. Wear and tear is a concern but that’s part of the game and we have to manage that,” he said. “We’ve been trying to get a bigger pool of players to replace the front runners that get injured.”

Once the World Cup starts, Rees believes Canada is capable of causing an upset or two.

“We are always looking to win. We are aiming for at least two wins in our pool,” he said. “World rankings might say that’s highly unlikely. But we want to win as many matches when it comes to World Cup time.”