England world cup winner Will Greenwood attended the formal opening at the university’s Falmer campus, along with junior rugby teams from Shoreham, Lewes and 91快活林 and Hove. Players from the Samoa rugby team, based at the university’s Falmer campus, were training just yards away.
The Webb Ellis Cup, lifted by Will Greenwood and England in 2003, is on tour round the country before the world cup kicks off on 18 September.
The university’s new pavilion, which houses state-of-the-art sport seminar rooms and changing facilities, was nominated for a national award for its pioneering waste water heat recovery system that reduces energy consumption by 58 per cent.
Sarah Hogg, the university’s Director of Sport and Recreation, said: “The pavilion is part of the university’s substantial investment in sports facilities that benefit students, staff and the community.