ITV Sport has announced its coverage plans for the 2019 Rugby World Cup as the free-to-air broadcaster invites rugby fans to rise for the tournament in Japan which kicks off on 20 September.
With teams both on the ground in Japan and in the UK, every game of the tournament from the opening match through to the final in Yokohama on 2 November will be broadcast live across ITV and ITV4, while evening highlights shows on both channels and full match replays will be made available online via the ITV Hub.
Mark Pougatch leads the ITV presenting team alongsideCraig Doyleand Martin Bayfield, with Jill Douglas hosting from Japan throughout the tournament, capturing the colour and excitement of the first Rugby World Cup to be staged in the Far East.
David Flatman will combine reporting and co-commentary duties in Japan, while Gabriel Clarke will provide reports, interviews and insights from across the country.
ITV’s main studio team will be pitchside in Japan from the quarter-finals onwards to capture the climax of the tournament, but for the pool stages they will be based in the UK, where they will use a state-of-the-art virtual interactive set that will allow the presenting team to demonstrate physical analysis in the programmes, bringing viewers fresh perspectives and insights.
The iconic Rugby World Cup anthem “World In Union”, an ever-present on ITV’s coverage since it first covered the Rugby World Cup back in 1991, will provide the theme music to all of its programmes throughout the tournament. The 2019 version will be sung by the award-winning Emeli Sande, which will also feature Japanese star Sarah Alainn.
ITV’s on-air promotional trailer for the tournament (below) features a Japanese anime inspired original animation anticipating UK breakfast time viewings of the matches kicking off in the land of the rising sun.
Alongside ITV’s extensive free-to-air television coverage, fans will be able to watch and engage with the Rugby World Cup at any time with ITV Sport’s comprehensive digital offering.
Fans can watch all games live and on the go on the ITV Hub app with short highlights of every match, exclusive interviews, top moments of the day and much more on ITV’s dedicated Rugby World Cup site – itv.com/rugbyworldcup.
The ITV Rugby Twitter account – @ITVRugby – will feature all the tries and key moments of live broadcast games just seconds after they happen, while ITV Sport’s Instagram and Facebook accounts will take fans behind the scenes in Japan with regular takeovers from ITV presenters and pundits.
Following the success of the ITV Six Nations Podcast, featuring former England and Wales internationals David Flatman and Tom Shanklin, ‘Flats and Shanks’ will return to host the ITV Rugby World Cup podcasts throughout the tournament in Japan.
Episodes will begin on 9 September and continue every Monday and Thursday throughout the tournament, featuring interviews with the stars of the Rugby World Cup and input from the ITV team. The dynamic duo will also host special six-episode series ‘Flats and Shanks in Japan’ on the ITV Hub ahead of the tournament.
If you missed anything from any day at the World Cup then the ITV Hub has you covered with a short-round up video on every match day, including all the tries, funny moments, comments from our pundits and classic moments from previous tournaments.
And to ensure big moments bring fans together and are not missed by people on the move, in partnership with Ocean Outdoor, ITV will be bringing highlights from all the big games at the Rugby World Cup to outdoor screens up and down the country. As part of this, the England versus France game will be shown live on the large full motion screen in Westfield Square, London on Saturday, October 12 (kick off 9.15am).
With the opening group phase peppered with standout clashes including England v France, Australia v Wales, Ireland v Scotland and New Zealand v South Africa, the ITV team is already predicting the most open tournament in history as they look forward to bringing viewers the experience and spectacle of the Rugby World Cup taking place in Asia for the first time.
Mark Pougatch, who leads ITV’s Rugby World Cup coverage for the first time, said:
“There’s always excitement surrounding a World Cup but this time that’s heightened even more because it looks like being the most open World Cup there’s ever been.
“The All Blacks remain favourites but they’ve shown signs of fragility, Wales come in as Grand Slam Champions, Ireland will be looking to find their form of 2018, England are more than capable if not consistent at the moment and South Africa are improving all the time. That prospect whets the appetite and it’s against the backdrop of the most fascinating, intriguing country in Japan. It should be six weeks to remember.”
With a little over a month to go, the build-up to kick-off will begin on ITV on Friday, 16 August, with the first broadcasts on the channel of its Rugby World Cup 2019 trailer, which, in-keeping with the kick-off schedule, bears its tournament campaign line inviting viewers to “Rise for the Rugby World Cup”.
ITV Creative have produced the film showing fans from every one of our home nations slipping into slumber, before their dreams are taken over by excitement, anticipating the action lying ahead in Japan.
Inspired by elements of modern Japanese artistic culture, each fan’s dream takes a different journey through anime, drawing on influences including renowned Manga artists Katsuhiro Otomo, known for directing landmark cyber-punk anime film Akira, and Satoshi Kon, who co-wrote and directed the more hallucinatory anime film Paprika, 16-bit games such as Street Fighter and Tekken and classic anime, such as Battle of the Planets and Dragon Ball Z.
The trailer features the track Goku by Jaden Smith, which was also inspired by anime, with its reference to the titular character from the Dragon Ball series. Tony Pipes, Executive Creative Director for ITV Creative, said:
“We wanted to create a piece that captured the excitement and tangible giddiness that rugby fans have been feeling with the kick-off around the corner. We felt Japan’s rich and pioneering history with animation made it the perfect medium to translate the physicality and action of the game and tease what I’m sure will be a unique and historic tournament.”
ITV’s Rugby World Cup coverage is part of its portfolio of top class sporting events, which also includes the Six Nations, exclusive free-to-air coverage of the England football team’s qualifiers for both the European Championship and World Cup, top level boxing, UK horse racing, Tour de France and the French Open.
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