Manchester Bee inspires Rugby League World Cup 2022 mascot

Rugby League World Cup mascot
Rugbee, the Rugby League World Cup mascot was unveiled at Old Trafford Credit: RLWC

A nine-year-old boy from Manchester who helped design the mascot for the Rugby League World Cup 2022 said he is "gobsmacked" his design was chosen.

RugBee was unveiled at Old Trafford where the men's and women's finals will be played in a double header on Saturday 19 November.

The mascot will attend every single one of the 61 games of the men’s, women’s and wheelchair tournaments.

The competition to design the mascot opened in April with more than 2,000 entries coming in from young fans.

After whittling down the extensive shortlist, two entries simply couldn’t be separated, and both were put forward to be part of the final design for ‘RugBee’.

One of the entries was from nine-year-old Samuel Liptrot from Cavendish Community Primary School in Manchester.

He was told he had won during a school assembly with a video message from St Helens and England player Tommy Makinson, who is expected to be one of England’s key players during their World Cup campaign.

Tommy Makinson during a mid-season International match at the Halliwell Jones Stadium Credit: PA

Samuel is a St Helens fan, and says finding out he had won in a video message from one of his heroes, Tommy Makinson, was a huge thrill.

And, explaining the inspiration behind his design, Samuel said: “Because I knew the finals were taking place in Manchester I thought it would be really fitting to have a bee and I thought it was something that would suit me and Manchester.

“I never thought I would win out of 2,000 entries, I was really gobsmacked. Being able to go to the final and being able to look at my mascot that I have created is just amazing.”

Rugby League World Cup 2021 Chief Executive, Jon Dutton, said: “The bee is synonymous with Manchester and bees are known for their industrious nature

"RugBee will certainly be working hard throughout the tournament attending every single one of our 61 matches.”

A number of fixtures will be played at the DW stadium Credit: Martin Rickett/PA

When does the Rugby League World Cup start?

The Rugby League World Cup 2021 kicks off on October 15 at St James' Park in Newcastle as England welcome Samoa men.

A number of towns and cities in the north west are playing important roles in the tournament with all three finals being held in Manchester.

  • Bolton: The University of Bolton Stadium will host one men’s game, including an England group game against France on October 22. It will also be the team base for France mens.

  • Liverpool: Liverpool will play a key role with the city providing the training bases for Italy and Tonga.

  • Preston: Preston will host Wales Men's team as their training base.

  • St Helens: St Helens will host three men’s group games at the Totally Wicked Stadium. The town will also be the training base for Tonga and Italy (Men's) teams.

  • Manchester and Trafford: Old Trafford will host both the men’s and women’s finals as a double-header event and Manchester Central will host the wheelchair final.

  • Warrington: The Halliwell Jones Stadium will host three Men’s group games and a Men's quarter final. The town will be the team base for the Pa

    pua New Guinea (Men's) team.

  • Wigan and Leigh: Leigh Sports Village will host three men’s group games and Lebanon (Men's) team will be based in Leigh. The DW Stadium will host a double-header fixture, including an England Women's group game and a men's tournament quarter-final, set to be England Men, should they progress from the group stages.

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