O2’s bold new work in partnership with VCCP puts England’s most successful rugby team front and centre – ahead of the upcoming home Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025.
London, Wednesday 20th August 2025: Today, long-time partner of England Rugby, O2, launches its most powerful women’s rugby campaign to date: ‘England, meet England’. Created by the brand’s long-standing creative agency of record VCCP, the bold and uplifting campaign is designed to boost support and awareness of the Red Roses, making them famous in the hearts and minds of the nation.
Despite being the most successful rugby team England has ever produced, a staggering 62% of Rugby Union fans still can’t name a single Red Rose. O2’s latest work aims to change that, shining a national spotlight on the World Number One team as they charge headfirst into a home World Cup, riding high on the momentum of a Guinness Six Nations Grand Slam and the support of a growing fan base.
VCCP’s global content studio Girl&Bear worked with Academy Films and director Marcus Söderlund to create the hero film ‘Dive’. Set to the soundtrack ‘Weightless’ by Romy, the spot opens with the Red Roses in what looks like their changing room. In an unexpected twist, rather than getting ready for a game, we see them put on helmets before running and jumping out of the back of a plane, skydiving as a united team. We see the Roses in formation, forming a circle in the air, joining hands in a unified movement before releasing their parachutes and descending into a packed Allianz Stadium in Twickenham. They land and take their place, shoulder to shoulder, ready to take on their opponents. The film acts as a powerful metaphor for the team’s unstoppable rise: it’s a rallying cry for a team ready to claim their moment – calling on their country to get behind them.
The campaign reframes the Red Roses not just as elite athletes, but as national heroes, and is a key part of O2’s continued commitment to parity in rugby, marking the brand putting equal amounts into its sponsorship of both the men’s and women’s teams. The work also follows O2’s partnership with Women’s Sports Trust (WST), which aims to increase visibility of the Red Roses and help promote women’s rugby more broadly. Together with the RFU, O2 has played a pivotal role in closing the gender awareness gap that WST’s research highlighted, and elevating the Red Roses to unprecedented visibility, resulting in a 14% growth in awareness, 57% growth in social media followers, and a record-breaking women’s rugby crowd of 58,000 fans at the Women’s Guinness Six Nations 2023 Grand Slam decider.
Out of home executions, shot by Michelle Watt, range from impactful 96-sheet team shots with the core campaign line, to smaller group and solo player portraits – boldly positioning each Red Rose as a player the nation should know. Social and reactive content will celebrate player moments and squad milestones as the tournament progresses.
Running from today, ‘England, meet England’ will roll out across TV, video on demand, online, out-of-home, PR, experiential and a social-first campaign that goes beyond match-day coverage to showcase the individual personalities and unique skills of the squad.
To shine a light on the characters behind the team, O2 have also teamed up with renowned hypeman and promoter, Chabuddy G (played by British Comedian, Asim Chaudhry), hiring him as the Red Roses new PR Manager. Created by O2’s sponsorship agency, MSQ Sport + Entertainment, the mockumentary social series, will bring out the players’ personalities as they entertain the self-professed PR Guru, AKA Cha-rugby G’s crash course in questionable PR stunts, wacky celebrations, and tips for ‘going viral’.
Rachel Swift, Brand and Advertising Director at Virgin Media O2, said: “This year O2 and England Rugby are celebrating 30 years of partnership, and with the Red Roses dominating women’s rugby, and the upcoming Rugby World Cup on home turf, now more than ever we want to help connect fans to the team and grow the women’s game.
“The Red Roses are England’s most decorated rugby team – and yet they’re not yet front of mind. With ‘England, meet England’, we’re giving them the epic entrance to the tournament they’ve earned and calling on the nation to get behind them and Wear the Rose. With the Women’s Rugby World Cup just around the corner, we’re spotlighting the Red Roses’ incredible talent and we’re proud to be behind them every step of the way.”
Nikki Lindman, Creative Director at VCCP, added: “We’re incredibly proud to be part of this moment for the Red Roses. They’re on an incredible winning streak, but somehow still under the radar. This campaign is a proper introduction – confident, powerful, and full of heart. We wanted to make something that felt as big as the stage they’re about to step onto. Hopefully it gives people goosebumps… and makes them proud to cheer them on.”
The integrated campaign was created by VCCP, Virgin Media O2’s creative agency of record since 2002, when the agency was founded. Media planning and buying was driven by MG OMD, MSQ Sport + Entertainment led on partnership management, experiential activations, and PR was managed by Virgin Media O2, with a supporting earned media campaign created and led by W Communications. The PR activity embodies ‘England, meet England’, providing fans across the UK with the opportunity to get behind their national team and share their own message of support for inclusion in a first-of-its-kind AI powered team talk. Each message will be collated using an advanced AI technology system and transformed into a single, unified track, creating a rallying cry that captures the collective ‘voice’ of the nation. The final track will be shared with the Red Roses during the tournament, enabling supporters to not only be heard as they cheer the team on, but to be part of England’s Rugby World Cup story.
For the first time, O2 is also an official partner of the Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025, which will see O2 customers enjoy exclusive access to tickets for all 32 matches and unforgettable experiences via Priority, O2’s award winning customer reward programme. O2 will also set the stage for six-weeks of entertaining action with an unmissable opening show performance from acclaimed singer-songwriter Anne-Marie ahead of the first match of the tournament at the Stadium of Light in Sunderland on Friday, 22 August. Additionally, ten stores across Host Cities will be updating the O2 logo on the front of each store, replacing the ‘O’ with the Rugby Rose with staff and colleagues wearing England Rugby shirts in-store.
Please download imagery here and see the film here.
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