The WRU have spent the last 12 months providing an engagement and legacy programme in the city of Kitakyushu and its results mean it has been rolled out in two further cities.
Wales will face Fiji in Oita on Oct 9, followed by their final Pool D encounter against Uruguay in Kumamoto on Oct 13.
This week a team from the WRU’s community department is in both cities engaging with local officials, rugby supporters and the wider community to spread the WRU’s values and deliver a range of rugby activities.
The programme in Kitakyushu has seen the city throw their weight and support behind Wales, with the WRU delivering rugby sessions for thousands of locals.
Warren Gatland’s Wales will base themselves in Kitakyushu for a training camp when they arrive in Japan and are guaranteed a very warm welcome and a flood of support from the city.
These further engagement programmes hope to deliver similar results and support for the team.
“We have been blown away by the level of support and engagement in Kitakyushu, it has been phenomenal,” said WRU Business Development Manager Rhys Williams who has been heading up the project.
“Every emergency and post office vehicle in the city is displaying a sign of support for Wales at the World Cup and we have met thousands of locals, supporters and rugby fans who want to engage with the WRU and support the squad when we head over in September.
“We delivered engaging rugby sessions right across the board from mini rugby, senior rugby, to referees and coaches and it is really paying dividends for us.
“We are really excited and proud that both Oita and Kumamoto have seen the success of the programme and have partnered with us to roll out our the programme in their cities.
“It is a great opportunity for us to further engage and garner support and really deliver something meaningful. I’d like to thank both Oita and Kumamoto for working with us and we are really excited about delivering the programme.”
