Rugby World Cup organisers are 'hopeful' Olympic Stadium can still be one of the venues for 2015 However, following last month's handover of the Olympic Park to the London Legacy Development Corporation, there was some doubt over whether the stadium would be open in time. LLDC chief executive Dennis Hone confirmed the stadium may not open again until "August 2015 at the absolute earliest" as it is reconfigured to a 60,000 capacity. Hone also said if West Ham were selected as the long-term tenants, the stadium might not be open until 2016. Bernard Lapasset, the International Rugby Board and Rugby World Cup chairman, said on Monday he was still optimistic the Olympic Stadium could be included as one of 12 expected venues. "We are still hopeful that we can use it, but we need to talk more," said Lapasset, who is also on the French National Olympic Committee. It is a fantastic place and it would be great if we can use it for England 2015. Debbie Jevans, the chief executive of England Rugby 2015, the organising company for the tournament, said on Monday that talks over the potential use of the Olympic Stadium would continue with the LLDC before a final decision is made by March next year. While Lapasset boldly predicted the tournament would be "the most important in the history of the Rugby World Cup," Jevans, who was director of sport for the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games during the Olympics, said she hoped to recreate the spirit of the London Games for the tournament. "Anything ultimately comes down to people," said Jevans. What we had in 2012 was a fantastic group of people and a fantastic group of volunteers that just did the best job of their lives to deliver the Olympics. Can we re-create that? Yes, we can in a very different way because I want this to be unique. I want to ensure we embrace the core rugby fan who has supported the sport over the years but also entice a new set of fans and a new set of people to come and enjoy the game. Jevans is charged with delivering ER 2015"s commercial target of 2.8 million sales. However, she insisted the financial success of the tournament was not her only focus. "What is important is that you have sport at heart and the teams at heart," she said. We want to have a Rugby World Cup for all that has a ticketing policy that allows a number of people to come in and watch the games. Meanwhile, world champions New Zealand yesterday completed a clean sweep of the International Rugby Board's major annual awards. All Blacks fly-half Dan Carter was named player of the year for a second time, while New Zealand won team of the year and Steve Hansen was coach of the year.