O2 offers 50,000 rugby shirts to those who show their support for the England Rugby Team

Giant washing lines to appear across the country, giving fans the chance to get a brand new shirt fresh off the line

O2 customers can earn a shirt through Priority by entering a prize draw and uploading a message of support for the Team via social media using #WearTheRose

With the biggest rugby tournament in English history just a month away, O2 is challenging fans across the country to earn one of 50,000 Official England Rugby shirts and show their support for the England Rugby team.

A first of its kind in English sport, O2 will reward fans with over £3 million worth of Official England Rugby shirts in exchange for getting behind the Team and demonstrating what England Head Coach, Stuart Lancaster, calls that extra 10% – the power of support.

O2 and England Elite Rugby players Danny Care, James Haskell and Alex Corbisiero rewarded the first lucky fans today by erecting a giant washing line sporting multiple England Rugby shirts in London’s Potters Field. Hung at the average rugby line-out height of three metres, the shirts can only be reached by those willing to demonstrate their support for each other and work as a team. See what happened below:

Rugby towns and cities across England will also see giant washing lines stocked with shirts appearing throughout this week, giving more fans the chance to team up and demonstrate the power of support:

Monday 10th August – Kingston Parade, Bath from 11am

Tuesday 11th August – Piccadilly Gardens, Manchester from 11am

Wednesday 12th August – Northumberland Street South, Newcastle from 11am

Thursday 13th August – Humberstone Gate West, Leicester from 11am

Meanwhile, England Rugby devotees outside these areas can still take up O2’s challenge to show their support via the Priority app. O2 customers will have the opportunity to earn a shirt by accepting the Priority offer. The offer enters customers into a prize draw and lucky winners will then have to take to social media to upload a message of support for the team by using #WearTheRose on Twitter to receive their shirt.

Finally, O2 customers looking for the ultimate England experience can also head to one of 50 cities throughout August and September as part of the Wear the Rose Tour. 10,000 shirts will be up for grabs using ground breaking iBeacon technology via Priority. Customers will be alerted via SMS when and where the Tour will arrive. Using brand new patented Bluetooth magnetic technology, fans will then open the app and be able to seamlessly tap their phone at each Tour location to claim their shirt.

As part of the tour, O2 will also showcase the world’s first ever virtual reality sports experience. Using the revolutionary Oculus Rift technology, fans can experience what it’s like to ‘Wear the Rose’ themselves by training with England’s Elite Player squad without setting foot on a single blade of grass. Alternatively they can snap up one of the last remaining tickets for Wear the Rose Live at The O2, the Official England Rugby 2015 Send Off with special guests Take That.

Ronan Dunne, CEO of O2, comments: “We’re calling upon the country to get behind the England Rugby Team, and how better to do that than wear the symbol sewn onto the chest of every England shirt – the red rose. Whether it’s by working together to get a shirt fresh off the line or showing your support via social media, we’re challenging all of our customers to help make Stuart Lancaster’s England Team feel like giants.”

Stuart Lancaster, England Head Coach said: “The power of support can be the difference between victory and defeat. We thrive on support; it can provide that extra 10% which in a game of small margins can be so important. It’s fantastic O2 are behind the team and are enabling thousands of England fans to wear the shirt and show their support for the team.”

Created by England Rugby kit provider Canterbury, the latest shirt features a 3D injection moulded rose, developed through rapid prototyping technology, providing an innovative update to the traditional England Rugby crest.

Terms and conditions apply. For more information visit: www.o2.co.uk/weartherose

Join in and #WearTheRose.