The Women’s Rugby World Cup is just around the corner, and this week the IRFU took a different approach to the squad announcement, with the help of 53Six, the support of Aon, and a dive into the childhood past of those selected.

“There is always a fevered guessing game about a Men’s World Cup squad, and so the announcement is just a function of the preparation, but for the Women’s, this is a first tournament in eight years, and we wanted to do something a little bit different,” said Aoife Clarke, IRFU Head of Communications talking to Sport for Business yesterday.

“We want the public to get behind this group of players who will represent us in England and make all of our dreams come into focus.”

“They are a great group, and this is a way in which the public can get to see them as individuals, as well as a team, and get themselves game-ready to support them.”

“When the IRFU asked us to reimagine the squad announcement, we felt a huge responsibility to honour the players and capture the renewed energy within the team in the lead-in to the World Cup,” said Colm Halpin, Creative Director at 53Six.

“From speaking directly with the squad, we learned that every player’s journey is unique – some discovered rugby early, others much later – but all share the same dream, to represent Ireland on the world stage.”

“Our aim was to inspire young girls in particular, by showing them the power of holding on to a dream, and where it can lead.”

“We asked the players for their photographs of them as kids or on their rugby journey, but we never said what it was for,” added Clarke.

“53Six presented the concept, and we immediately fell for it. There were two more, but this was the one that really stuck. The AON came on board to make it possible, and we were rolling.”

“The reaction shots were all part of a day’s media filming that we did with the players.”

“Once they saw the edit, there were a couple of last-minute scrambles for a shot that they preferred, and in the end, there was a real sense that this was something they were proud of, and most importantly, could inspire others to take up the sport and build their own dreams.”

Some people dream in black and white, some dream in colour, we dream in Green…

 

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