RFU & O2 Launch The Untouchables
The Rugby Football Union and O2 has launched the O2 Touch tour – the governing body’s biggest ever campaign to get the nation playing Touch Rugby, supported by The Untouchables; a team of athletes including a free-runner, a rugby player, a freestyler, a dancer, a personal trainer, and a parkour pro.
The O2 Touch tour was officially launched with The Untouchables, at a specially-laid pitch at the Truman Brewery in East London on Tuesday. Joining The Untouchables for their inaugural performance was Strictly Come Dancing star Flavia Cacace and England Rugby players Mike Brown, Brad Barritt and Alex Goode.
Check out The Untouchables in action at Sport Industry TV.
Broadening the reach and appeal of rugby through Touch is one of the key focus areas for the RFU to create a lasting legacy for the sport in the build up to and beyond the Rugby World Cup (RWC) in 2015, outlined by CEO Ian Ritchie at November’s Nolan Partners Sport Industry Breakfast Club.
The RFU, working with O2, has committed to establishing 75 new O2 Touch Centres by June 2013 and a further 100 during 2013/14.
Over the next two months O2 Touch and The Untouchables will be taken on tour across England to promote local Touch activity and attract new people to the game.
The Untouchables features a mix of male and female athletes including leading free runners, a choreographer to world-stars such as Rihanna and Dizzee Rascal and a former Leicester Tiger.
They will visit Birmingham, Manchester, Nottingham and Bristol showcasing their skills with a rugby ball to members of the public. They will also be encouraging people of all ages and abilities to sign up and participate in Touch; whether at their local rugby clubs or universities, as part of the O2 Touch programme. A wider tour, which runs until April this year, will also visit Plymouth, Portsmouth, Southampton, Sheffield, Hull and Norwich.
Sally Cowdry, marketing and consumer director at O2 said: ‘We’re really proud of our long standing relationship with England Rugby and through the O2 Touch programme, are committed to bringing rugby to everyone. Touch Rugby is such an inclusive and accessible sport and we really hope that the tour and The Untouchables launched today will inspire a whole new generation to pick up a rugby ball and start playing this exciting game.’
England Rugby player Brad Barritt, speaking at the launch, added: ‘O2 Touch is a great way to keep fit and to have some fun. The best thing about it is that anyone can play and not worry about the physical side of rugby!’
‘It’s a really positive initiative from the RFU and O2 to enable people of any age to get back into playing the game or try it for the first time. I’d definitely encourage people to pitch up to play.’
