How backing rugby helps to build a global head of steam May 10, 2015 Heathrow Express’s Fraser Brown looks to players’ speed on the field to win the high-speed rail link more conversions IF YOU are a lover of statistics, you’ll love this opening paragraph. Of the 50m passengers who arrive at Heathrow airport every year, around 20m travel immediately into central London. Of that 20m, nearly a third [...]
I’m being denied top-level rugby, says Abendanon May 6, 2015 NEWLY-CROWNED European player of the year Nick Abendanon has complained that England’s policy of not selecting overseas-based players is depriving him of the chance to compete at the highest level. The 28-year-old full-back joined Toulon back-row forward Steffon Armitage in the international wilderness when he signed for Top 14 side Clermont Auvergne in February 2014, [...]
Arctic scrum for record breaking rugby match May 5, 2015 CHARITY fundraisers gave new meaning to the term Arctic roll last week, when they set a Guinness World Record for playing the northernmost rugby match in history – at the North Pole. A team of 11 intrepid explorers, including the boss of LMAX Exchange, David Mercer, took to the field – or glacier, as it [...]
The strong arm of the Rugby law: 2015 World Cup legal partner Clifford Chance has long been part of the rugby family May 4, 2015 Would you like to watch this year’s Rugby World Cup through the eyes of Dan Carter or Sam Warburton? Effectively play the game with them. As them. In them. Feel what it’s like to react in that nano-second that takes them away from a defender or straight into the arms of a gigantic monster. [...]
Rugby club Wasps to raise £35m in retail bond offering April 27, 2015 Rugby club Wasps is raising up to £35m of debt in a retail bond offer, hoping to tap up fans with a payout of 6.5 per cent on the debt instruments. It is pitching the paper as a safe investment, on the basis that the vast majority of its income is in fact not [...]
BMW’s Peter Walker says being an official partner of England Rugby is no joke for his firm April 26, 2015 Before April finally gives way to May, let us take you back to the start of the month, and the avalanche of sometimes extremely entertaining, sometimes immeasurably unamusing April Fools that organisations feel duty bound to overwhelm us with to show how cutting edge or just plain “one of us” they are. BMW did one. [...]
Rugby and cricket in mourning as tragedy strikes at club level April 20, 2015 AUSTRALIAN rugby union is in shock after a 25-year-old club player died from head injuries suffered when making a tackle. Nick Tooth, who was playing at fly-half for New South Wales outfit Quirindi Lions against Narrabri Blue Boars on Saturday, struck his head on an opponent’s shoulder. He was treated on the pitch and then [...]
2015 Rugby World Cup: Banking on shared values – and the 3bn viewers for a great global event April 12, 2015 When a senior figure from the world of banking talks up his company’s major sponsorship deal with a particular sport, because it represents the “core values” of his business, there’s a tendency sometimes to roll the eyes in a “that’s so on-message” kind of a way. So when Ian Fisher, head of coverage and investment [...]
Rugby World Cup 2015: Four free fanzones set for London including Trafalgar Square and Wembley March 26, 2015 Four London locations will host Rugby World Cup “fanzones” when the tournament kicks off in England later this year. Trafalgar Square, Wembley Stadium, Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park and Old Deer Park in Richmond will all host fan parks complete with big screens broadcasting live games, entertainment, food and drink and “rugby related activities”. A [...]
Moody: Leave Robshaw out for Scotland match March 6, 2015 Time to audition England captaincy alternatives, says 2003 hero Lewis WORLD Cup winner Lewis Moody has called for England captain Chris Robshaw to be omitted when his side bid to resurrect their Six Nations challenge against Scotland at Twickenham next week. Robshaw has skippered England throughout Stuart Lancaster’s tenure as head coach, although the Harlequins [...]