Paris, October 14th. After a grueling competition, tournament favorite Ireland lost to the legendary “All Blacks” from New Zealand in the quarter-finals of the 2023 Rugby World Cup – it was a painful defeat. Four months later, the team in green is back in France. This time in Marseille. The Irish face the French team in the Six Nations, an annual competition in which the top six teams in Europe battle for continental supremacy.
Rugby crown of Europe
How is the team in green dealing with the disappointment in the fall tournament? That was the question everyone was asking beforehand. Would Ireland’s players be able to repeat the electrifying form that had taken them to the top of the world rankings? You could. After 80 intense minutes, Ireland celebrated a deserved 38:17 win. With two more wins in Dublin against Italy and Wales, Ireland has now firmly established itself in the world rankings. Now the Irish nation is holding its breath: tension is rising before the last two games against England (March 9) and Scotland (March 16). Because: The team wants to win the Grand Slam for the second time in a row in 2024 – a first in the history of the Six Nations tournament.
Ireland’s players Garry Ringrose, Andrew Conway and Johnny Sexton celebrate at the 2022 Six Nations tournament at the Aviva Stadium.
The most important terms
Rugby Union Football Rugby union or simply rugby is a popular team sport around the world. Major rugby nations besides Ireland are New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, Argentina, France, England, Wales, Scotland and Italy.Six Nations Annual tournament in which England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales take part.Grand Slam title, the awarded to a team that wins all five games of the Six Nations.Rugby 7s A variant of Rugby Union. The team consists of seven players and the halves last seven minutes.
And things aren’t just going well for men. Ireland’s Women’s Sevens Rugby League also made history in Perth at the end of January this year when they defeated Australia to win Ireland’s first ever men’s or women’s HSBC Rugby Sevens title. The star team is now preparing to represent Ireland alongside the Irish men’s team at the Olympics this summer – another first for Ireland. But no matter what the results on the field are, one thing remains: Opel’s support for Irish rugby.
All of Ireland in rugby fever
Rugby in Ireland is a mass phenomenon: more than 60 percent of adults describe themselves as fans. When the Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU) approached Opel in Ireland three years ago, the company seized the opportunity to sign a sponsorship agreement. Since then, the Opel team has continuously expanded their collaboration – and is benefiting from the increasing popularity of the sport. Not least because the Irish men’s XV team has risen to number one in the world rankings in the top division.
“The rugby world is huge: Team Opel supports players, coaches, management and fans across Ireland.”
– James Brooks, Managing Director Opel Ireland –
Basic rugby knowledge
Worldwide phenomenon More than 10 million people play rugby, 8.4 million of whom are registered players. The Rugby Union World Cup is one of the largest global sporting spectacles after the Football World Cup and the Olympic Games.
Basics In its most common form, a game is played between two teams of 15 players each with an oval ball on a rectangular field, the pitch. There are H-shaped goal posts at the ends of the field. The aim is to carry or kick the ball past the opponent. This is how you score points.
Hand and foot You can only play the rugby ball forward with your foot. If there are moves to the side or backwards, the hand may be used. A game lasts 80 minutes, there are two halves.
As a sponsor of Irish rugby and an official vehicle partner of the IRFU, Opel benefits from many aspects of the partnership. James Brooks, Managing Director of Opel Ireland, said: “The rugby world is huge: from the men’s and women’s national teams to the growing phenomenon of rugby sevens, from the minis to the U20s to the seniors, from club level through to provincial, national and international levels – Team Opel supports players, coaches, management and rugby fans across Ireland. There are enormous opportunities for us as sponsors.”
From TV to social media
The enormous popularity of the sport is also reflected in TV ratings: according to official figures, almost 2.8 million adults in Ireland watched the TV broadcast of the Six Nations tournament last year. 11 of the 20 most-watched programs on Irish television are rugby matches. The 2023 tournament was watched by a total of around 120 million viewers worldwide. Over 2.7 million fans follow Irish rugby on social channels.
Home games at the Aviva Stadium attract up to 52,000 fans – the perfect platform to introduce a new model like the Opel Corsa.
From advertising to social media to activities around the games – Opel is active in many ways during the season. Up to 52,000 fans flock to the Aviva Stadium for every home game – the perfect platform to present or advertise new models. The new Opel Corsa is the star of this year’s Six Nations campaign, which will be shown during the three home games in the official match programs, on the big screen in the stadium, on the LED screens on the sidelines, on the Opel channels on social media and on hand-picked billboards around the pitch. The central campaign motif “Yes of Corsa”, it fits perfectly with the local Opel rugby campaign.
Focus on women’s rugby
From the outset, the brand has placed particular emphasis on supporting women’s rugby. With Amee Leigh, Murphy Crowe, Stacey Flood and Beibhinn Parsons, four international players act as brand ambassadors for the brand with lightning. The quartet – along with other 7s colleagues – will represent Ireland at the Olympic Games in Paris this summer. Another brand ambassador, Linda Djougang, will be taking part in the Women’s Six Nations in April alongside her fellow XVs.
Amee Leigh Murphy Crowe (left) and Stacey Flood are among the Opel brand ambassadors.
Ireland XVs player Linda Djougang enjoys her role as Opel brand ambassador in her new Mokka.
The Irish international player and Opel brand ambassador Beibhinn Parsons has been driving a Corsa Electric since the beginning of the year.
“Sponsorship in women’s sport in general is still very underrepresented,” says Emma Toner, Marketing Director at Opel Ireland, “We jumped at the chance very early on to anchor the Opel brand at the heart of women’s rugby – at a time when others Companies hadn’t had this sport on their radar yet.” They accompanied the four athletes on their journey, supported them in difficult times and basked in their recent successes, says Toner.
Guest at Opel events
Opel doesn’t just support the brand ambassadors with vehicles. The players appear as guest speakers at trade fairs and dealer conferences and take part in internal employee events. “Our aim is to raise awareness of women in rugby in Ireland, for which we are very grateful to our ambassadors,” says Emma Toner. Opel Ireland supported the Women’s Tag Rugby team at the 2023 World Cup and will continue to host Irish women’s rugby networking events across the country this year. Toner: “This gives us more opportunities to come into direct contact with new customers.”
Opel supported the Irish Women’s Open Tag Rugby team at the World Championships last summer.
“We seized the opportunity very early on to anchor the Opel brand in the heart of women’s rugby.”
– Emma Toner, Marketing Director at Opel in Ireland –
This is how points are scored
Try If you manage to place the ball on the ground in the opponent’s field, a successful attempt has been made. It is worth five points.Conversion After a try, the attacking team has the opportunity to increase the score by two more points with a successful shot on goal. The ball must pass between the goal posts to be considered successful.Penalty Awarded by the match official to punish intentional infringements. The team that did not commit the violation receives the ball and can either kick it toward a touchdown (in which case the back pass rule is waived), attempt a place kick toward the goal, or tap the ball with their foot and let it run. Scrum A scrum is a standard situation in rugby following minor breaches of the rules. Eight players each try to push the opposing team away in a crouching position in order to win the free ball.
The brand with the lightning bolt provides IRFU employees – from management and trainers to nutritionists and sports psychologists – with a fleet of over 100 Opel vehicles. All current models in the product range are included, including light commercial vehicles. And: a quarter of the fleet is electric. There are currently a series of videos titled “It Takes a Nation. It Takes Everyone.” Filmed that underline the commitment. The documentary series gives a unique insight behind the scenes, the team behind the players and attracts the attention of rugby fans and experts. “Each episode gets hundreds of thousands of views,” says Emma Toner.
Balls for local clubs
As part of the Driving The Passion program, Opel Ireland has also supplied hundreds of branded rugby balls to local clubs in Ireland. The response on social media was phenomenal: dozens of clubs asked the brand for donations and tagged Opel as the recipient of the balls on social media. And the journey continues: Opel will continue to advance the rugby partnership in 2024 and continue to find new ways to further anchor the brand. #DriveOn.
March 2024
Photos: Opel Ireland, ©INPHO/Laszlo Geczo