Live screening absent from Trafalgar Square fanzone

LONDON (Reuters) - Over one million people are expected to visit Rugby World Cup fanzones during the tournament, organisers said on Thursday although fans gathering in London's Trafalgar Square will not be able to watch live-screened matches. There will be 15 fanzones in each host city, one at the birth place of the game in Rugby, and one in iconic Trafalgar Square which will be open from the weekend of the semi-finals until the final on Oct. 31 at Twickenham. Fanzones include London's Olympic Park, the picturesque Old Deer Park in Richmond, the beach front in Brighton and the quayside docks of Gloucester, situated in the rugby heartland of England's south west. "The Fanzone in Trafalgar Square is designed to be a wider celebration of the game of rugby rather than a venue to watch matches," a Rugby World Cup spokesman said. "It will include entertainment, rugby activities and food and drink on the semi-final, Bronze Final and Final matchdays. It will also be open on the days in between, offering fans and visitors a rugby experience whilst in Central London during the final stages of the Tournament." He added: "We are in discussion with the Mayor’s Office regarding live screenings in central London." The six-week tournament, which starts on Sept. 18, is spread across 12 venues in England while Cardiff's Millennium Stadium will stage eight matches, including two quarter-finals. Fans across the United Kingdom and Ireland will get a close-up of the Webb Ellis Cup with the Rugby World Cup Trophy Tour which will last 100 days. World Rugby chairman Bernard Lapasset said: “Rugby World Cup 2015 is a tournament that will have the fans and teams at heart and we are excited about the unprecedented opportunity that the Trophy Tour and Fanzones will provide for fans to really engage with the tournament no matter where they are. “With six months to go until England 2015 kicks off, World Rugby is confident of a very special and record-breaking celebration of rugby that will inspire new fans and participants around the world.” (Reporting by Justin Palmer, Editing by Ed Osmond)