The Sweet Chariot Tour is proving a huge hit with the English public with more than 250,000 people attending events to see the Webb Ellis Cup in its first month on the road.

It is currently touring the Eastern Counties and with another 14 weeks to go, the tour is well on target to reach the two million mark - many new to the game of rugby.

The event has been hailed as a major success by RFU chief executive Francis Baron, who joined the Sweet Chariot Tour in Lincolnshire last week.

“The tour has been a phenomenal success,” Baron said. “I think we are way ahead of where we wanted to be after the first month of the tour.

“We wanted people to share the success of the England team and, just to see the excitement on the faces of youngsters at the events I attended made it all worthwhile.

“I was honoured to be able to present the plaque to Angela, the sister of Neil Higgins, because I know that rugby gave him a lot of pleasure and that moment was very special for me.

“By taking the trophy into the prison we showed that rugby is a game for everybody and that we do care about our people and our community which is what the Sweet Chariot Tour is about.”

An army of volunteers, staff from the Rugby Football Union and tour managers Activate UK have kept the biggest sporting roadshow in Britain rolling, taking rugby to new people and places.

Mike Vandrau, of Activate UK who are managing the tour in conjunction with the Rugby Football Union, said: “It has been tremendous, we are seeing a great response from the English public and are well on course to hit the 10,000 mark of new people coming into the game.”

In association with sponsors EA SPORTS, Ford, Holiday Inn, Land Rover and Lucozade Sport, the tour is visiting a range of venues organised by the RFU's 35 Constituent Bodies, including rugby clubs, leisure centres and schools, city centres and shopping malls.

As well as the Webb Ellis Cup, the RFU's new 40-ton open-out interactive Travelling Exhibition Unit contains the RBS 6 Nations Championship Trophy, the Calcutta Cup and the Women's 6 Nations Trophy.

Forthcoming Constituent Body visits

March 14-16 Eastern Counties
March 19-20 Essex
March 21-23 Kent
March 28-30 Surrey
April 2-3 Sussex
April 4-5 Hampshire
April 6 Jersey
April 7 Guernsey
April 8-10 Dorset & Wiltshire
April 11-13 Cornwall
April 14-16 Devon
April 18-19 Somerset
April 20-21 Berkshire
April 22-24 Gloucestershire
April 25-26 Oxfordshire
April 27-28 Students Rugby Union
May 2-4 Warwickshire
May 5 Oxford University
May 7-8 Buckinghamshire
May 9-10 Hertfordshire
May 12 Cambridge University
May 26-28 Middlesex

Main regional events
March 14 Castle Mall, Norwich
March 20 Lakeside, Essex
March 21 Bluewater, Kent
March 27 West Quay, Southampton
April 13 Trago Mills, Bodmin, Cornwall
April 24 Cribbs Causeway, Bristol
May 8 The Centre, Milton Keynes
May 9 The Harlequin Centre, Watford
May 16 The Oracle Centre, Reading