CorpComms Magazine

Mayor of London Boris Johnson and England World Cup winner Will Greenwood have joined forces to launch O2 Touch to get England playing touch rugby this summer.

The O2 Touch initiative, which is backed by the Rugby Football Union (RFU), will see RFU affiliated clubs across England running weekly touch rugby sessions trhoughout the summer which are open to all. The programme is designed to introduce new and existing players to touch rugby and encourage them to get active. 

Participants will also have the chance to play at Twickenham. Touch rugby players will be encouraged to film themselves in action at their local clubs to demonstrate how inclusive and easy the game is, and to upload their videos at www.rfu.com/O2touch.

Entrants are encouraged to pledge allegiance to either the North or South. An RFU committee will select the top five films from both regions, and the winning teams will play against each other at Twickenham.

As part of the scheme, the RFU has distributed hundreds of touch rugby training kits, comprising balls, bibs and cones, to participating clubs. Mayor of London Boris Johnson said: 'Rugby doesn't need to be a full contact sport and the O2 Touch programme enables everyone, young or old, male or female, to have a go, get fit and have fun.' The Mayor's office is providing funding worth £115,000 to complement the scheme in London.

England will host the Rugby World Cup, which this year takes place in New Zealand in September, in 2015.

O2 Touch is the first initiative to be rolled out to support the RFU's Choose Rugby campaign which aims to increase participation in the sport ahead of the England World Cup.

Ronan Dunne, UK chief executive at O2, which has supported English rugby since 1995, said: 'O2 Touch provides men and women across the country with the opportunity to discover just how much fun rugby is. With the Rugby World Cup just around the corner, it is the perfect time for everyone to pick up a ball and show their support.'

share me: del.icio.us | digg | reddit | Tweet