Our (Scottish) writer recently headed down to Twickenham in order to take part in a full England training session, hoisting up kicks for Marland Yarde, running cuts with Alex Goode and trying to blast past Tom Youngs. He did all this in a very different way than you might think, though.
He was trying out ‘Wear the Rose’ from O2. An experience gives people the opportunity to train with England’s Elite Player Squad… without any of that pesky physical exercise. Using Oculus Rift technology to immerse fans in a unique 360-degree virtual reality experience, ‘Wear the Rose’ transports people directly onto the rugby training pitch.
‘Wear the Rose’ will be debuted at the O2 blueroom at Twickenham Stadium for this Sunday’s England vs. Wales match. Then from April it will be available via Priority, giving O2 customers the chance to experience the technology for themselves. ‘Wear the Rose’ will then be showcased in select O2 stores across the country from June, supporting England’s tour of New Zealand this summer, and through O2 Touch Centres in July before a wider rugby club tour in the autumn.