Hertfordshire Rugby Football Union
Press Notice
RUGBY HITS BIG SCREEN WITH CINEMA CAMPAIGN
The Go Play Rugby campaign to recruit more players hits the big screen this week with an advert being shown in 294 cinemas in England.
The 20 second commercial will be screened before the Bourne Ultimatum movie on August 17 to 31 and reach an audience of more than 1.2million.
Fans will also get the chance to watch Rugby World Cup games for free in 20 selected Odeons in September and October as part of the Go Play Rugby recruitment drive.
Players from the Cinderford, Old Patesians, Bredon and Cirencester clubs took part in filming for the cinema advert at Hartpury College in Gloucestershire last month.
The action follows one former player, George Brooks, who experiences a range of emotions as he's welcomed back into the sport and back onto the field.
"We wanted to look at someone going back to the game, to make it realistic and have a character people in our target audience could identify with," said director Simon Tate.
"We follow him through the trepidation he feels, to being welcomed into the dressing room, going on to the field and feeling the joy and elation of playing again, then in enjoying the social side as he’s accepted back into the fold.
"That emotional journey is reflected in the way that the film is shot with colours washed out at the start and gradually introduced to give a feeling of warmth he feels more comfortable."
The Go Play Rugby team opted to run the commercial alongside the Bourne Ultimatum as the film most likely to fit the target audience of male former players aged 16-30.
It also fits in with a innovative media campaign being followed up by local clubs who have trained recruitment teams armed with resources like banners, posters, beermats and business cards.
The aim is to make contact with former players and encourage them back into the game by directing them to the www.goplayrugby.com website and to find their nearest Go Play Rugby clubs by texting their postcode to 64411.
A longer two-minute version of the film will be screened as part of a promotional package before Rugby World Cup games are shown in Odeon cinemas during the tournament that kicks off next month.
The 20 Odeons involved are at: Bath, Birmingham, Bournemouth, Covent Garden, Guildford, Huddersfield, Hull, Kingston, Leicester, Liverpool, Maidenhead, Maidstone, Manchester, Newcastle, Norwich, Sheffield, Southampton, Taunton, Weston-super-Mare, Wimbledon.
Entry to these licensed venues will be free and all the games involving England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa are being shown as are all of the knock-out stages.
"It should be a great opportunity to watch the game on a large screen, in a comfy chair and in a great atmosphere," said Go Play Rugby team leader Andy Lees. "It's also a unique opportunity for clubs to recruit and target rugby enthusiasts."
Go Play Rugby, the largest recruitment drive ever mounted by a sport in the United Kingdom, aims to bring former players back into the game and is timed to coincide with this year’s Rugby World Cup.
The £1m campaign involves more than 700 clubs and 130 universities and colleges, and is funded by the Rugby Football Foundation and National Sports Foundation with the support of commercial sponsors Chelsea Building Society and O2.
Go Play Rugby will remind former players what they are missing and how they can get back to enjoying rugby and all it can offer. The aim is to bring 6,000 players – the equivalent of 400 new teams – back to the game this season.
ends
For more information about the Hertfordshire Go Play Rugby campaign contact Ross Hopcroft at rhopcrof@csc.com or Peter Engledow at peterengledow@rfu.com
