RFU red-faced as Grand plan aborted

RUGBY: THE ENGLISH RFU have issued a clarification explaining thedynamics behind a Nike commercial heralding England as Grand Slamchampions and the production of 5,000 T-shirts by the Americanmanufacturing giant bearing the same message after both surfaced inthe public domain.

The union expressed their dismay that the video, produced byNike, their official supplier, shot during the Six NationsChampionship and showing footage of several players, including TobyFlood, Ben Foden and Chris Ashton in action, was leaked onto theinternet.

The embarrassment was further compounded by an e-mail from a Nikeexecutive that also found its way into the public domain. The mostpertinent extract reads: "We have commissioned a special limitededition T-shirt to celebrate the England Grand Slam 2011, which wewill give to the players when we win against Ireland on Saturday.

"The T-shirt is inspired by the iconic English rose (like thekit) and 5K units will go into retail at the RFU NikeTown Londonafter the game. In the spirit on owning sporting moments, we willalso execute a burst of Digital Out-of-Home activity that will startright on the final whistle in over 20 of London's most prominentunderground stations through Digital Escalator Panels and Cross-Track Projections.

"This will be further amplified through large Transvision screensat Waterloo, King's Cross, Euston and Charing Cross. This will runthroughout the weekend until Monday night catching consumers afterthe game and peak rush hour times for maximum impact. Finally, wehave created an AV celebration piece that we will be pushing out toour PR Retail over the weekend and the RFU will be posting it ontheir sites too."

Ireland put the kibosh on the best laid plans by beating England24-8 last Saturday, rendering the advert and the T-shirts in need ofsome Tipp-ex. The English RFU issued a statement yesterday pointingout that it was necessary to film the advert in advance and denyingthey underestimated the strength of the challenge that Ireland wouldpose.

It read: "The RFU works with all its commercial partners on theirsponsorship activation. Forward planning is a crucial part of allcommercial partnerships and all contingencies, winning or losing,have to be considered.

"It is disappointing that details of Nike's internal planning has(stet) got into the public domain. In no way did the RFU or theEngland team underestimate the challenge that the Ireland team wouldpose. We were well beaten by a team who played better and we havethe utmost respect for (Ireland coach) Declan Kidney and the Irishplayers."