We might have guessed from the chaos of flying in a storm that the timings of today’s Guinness Six Nations Launch in Dublin would be going awry.
With Ireland having won the Championship in 2023 the honour of staging the launch with captains, managers, media and officials fell to Dublin and the familiar surroundings for the sponsor of the Guinness Storehouse.
Storm Isha had other thoughts though and as the original kick-off time of 0900 came and went news began to emerge that the flight from England with Steve Borthwick was not landing until 10 and that the French team would no longer be gracing us with their presence.
A tough station for French media who had travelled in advance but tomorrow’s media there will instead be filled with images and words of their opening night rivals Ireland and the rest.
Andy Farrell and Peter O’Mahony were always going to be the stars of the show for the home based media, including those who themselves had been delayed on their return from the Leinster clash with Leicester yesterday.
O’Mahony spoke of his uncertainty of carrying on after the World Cup defeat to New Zealand and the pleasant surprise of getting the phone call from Farrell inviting him to be Captain.
He would not be drawn on the question of his central contract with Munster not yet having been renewed saying he was there today to talk about the Guinness six Nations and that was all he was going to be thinking about.
The sponsors and their agencies will be considering plenty over the now less than two weeks until the 2024 tournament gets underway.
Ronan Traynor from Verve was there to oversee this morning’s launch with the Wilson Hartnell team managing the media and trying to make sure that as much as possible could remain on course despite the weather disruption.
All that will have cleared by the time that Friday week rolls around and Ireland take on France in Marseilles for a game to be televised live on Virgin media and which looks already nailed on to be one of the most watched TV programmes of 2024.
We will be keeping up to speed on all the activations and all the commercial activities off the field of play, in coverage supported by our Rugby Partners once again Bank of Ireland.
Join us for our first major event of the New Year when we will gather with a host of sporting and business leaders to look ahead to what 2024 holds in store.
Be part of the biggest community of sporting and business organisations in Ireland by becoming a member of Sport for Business and enjoying a host of benefits.
Enjoy more of what we have to offer with events. podcasts and a twice-daily news bulletin. Simply click on the images below to sign up for the free bulletin or find out more…
