LONDON – A survey undertaken by bwin has found that very few people are aware or care about the Rugby World Cup which starts on Friday (GMT).
The survey asked 1000 people of all different ages around the United Kingdom a number of questions about the upcoming Rugby World Cup and the answers given were very surprising given rugby union has become one of the fastest spreading sports in the world.
Just over 30% of the people surveyed didn’t know that the Rugby World Cup was kicking off in September 2015 with a third of people surveyed also thinking that the winners of the tournament would receive the “Rugby Bowl”.
Almost 50% of people didn’t know Chris Robshaw was the current captain with 21.5% thinking that Jonny Wilkinson was the captain and 13.5% of people thinking that BBC’s ‘Saturday Kitchen’ host and TV chef James Martin was England captain heading into the tournament.
The most humorous aspect of the survey was a third of Londoners thinking that Billy Twelvetrees was a fake name and wasn’t a current England Rugby Union player.
With the UK having a population of approximately 65 million and a large fraction of that being an audience that exclusively follows football, a certain degree of people unfamiliar with the game would be expected, especially considering rugby’s widely spread reputation as a ‘public school’ sport.
However it is a wake-up call for brands and the governing body that so many people were unaware that one of the biggest tournaments in world sport is on our doorstep.