Aviva and the University of Bath’s quest to find the Aviva Premiership’s “most passionate fans” continues

Harlequins and Saracens edged out their rivals London Irish and London Wasps respectively in an epic Aviva Premiership weekend. However, while they might have lost out on the pitch, Irish and Wasps fans can take pride from the fact that their fans have been scientifically shown to be more passionate than their opposition on the day.

Premiership Rugby’s title sponsor Aviva has partnered with the University of Bath to scientifically investigate which Aviva Premiership Rugby club has the most passionate fans to settle the debate once and for all.

The research team undertook a variety of experiments on a sample set of 48 fans (12 from each club) who applied to take part. Their anxiety and testosterone levels were measured, as well as their heart rate throughout the match.

The university has devised an equation for passion, which is calculated from the interaction of four variables:

1) fan loyalty (commitment to the team)
2) fan match evaluation (before and after the match)
3) fan psychology (mood and anxiety levels)
4) fan physiology (hormone and heart rate changes)

The results are weighted alongside an independent review of the match by a former England player, to allow all 6 ‘crunch’ matches, and 12 sets of supporters, to be compared. So far, 8 clubs have now been analysed, with 4 left to play.

Here is a summary of the fans’ results from the London derbies:

The figures from each test section were combined into a passion equation and then scaled so all four categories have a possible maximum of 100.

London Irish fans were more passionate than the Harlequins fans and the Wasps fans were more passionate than the Saracens fans. Overall the London Irish fans just edge it, but currently lie 2nd in the Aviva Premiership Passion Table, behind Gloucester.

The project continues on March 30 when Newcastle Falcons host Sale Sharks, and finally Worcester v Exeter on April 14. At the end of the season, the Aviva Premiership Passion League Table will be revealed on www.avivapremiership.com/passionate

A researcher from the University of Bath said: “Aviva’s ‘Most Passionate Fans’ project represents an interesting opportunity to examine fan’s passion scientifically. There will always be arguments about how this can be done, but we believe we have devised the most objective way to identify and quantify passion.”

Louisa Cheetham, Senior Sponsorship Manager at Aviva, said: “Our most passionate fans project shows that rugby truly is a fans game. Aviva want to get fans as close to the action as possible, and this experiment does just that. The two matches last weekend between the four London clubs were close affairs, and that is reflected in the results of the experiment. It’s interesting that the two losing clubs showed more passion!”

To be in with a chance at winning a pair of tickets to the big match, flights from Cardiff to Edinburgh and an overnight hotel stay in Edinburgh, all you need to do is prove your love for the game! Join the scrum and head over to the bmibaby Facebook page. Give their page a like and let them know why you are Wales’ biggest rugby fan and you could find yourself embracing the game in all its glory at Edinburgh in February! It’s the ultimate weekend away for any fan!

Terms and Conditions apply.

All entries to be received by 6pm on 26th January 2011. Winners will be announced shortly after.

For full T&Cs, please request via email to bmibaby@therabbitagency.com.

Entrants must be able to travel from Cardiff Airport to Edinburgh 11 February 2011 AM and return on 13 February 2011 PM. Transfer costs are not included.

All entrants must live in the U.K. and have a valid passport.

Good luck – we look forward to receiving your entry!

Stars from the rugby union premiership side Mark Cueto, Andrew Sheridan, Matthew Tait, James Gaskell and Neil Briggs visited the teenage cancer unit and handed out Sale Sharks shirts and gifts.

Long standing supporter of The Christie, Mark Cueto, who plays for Sale Sharks, England and the British Lions, said; “It was a real honour to visit the teenage cancer unit at The Christie and a pleasure to hand out presents.

“We players face tough challenges on the rugby pitch but nothing compared to the challenges these youngsters face on a daily basis – they are truly inspirational.”

Andrew Sheridan added; ““If our visit can go some small way to putting a smile on their faces at Christmas then it is tremendously worthwhile.

“We hope this is the first step in a partnership between Sale Sharks and The Christie.”

Young patient Adam Garswood, 13, from Wigan, who is undergoing radiotherapy at The Christie got to meet the players and fulfil his dream of interviewing Mark Cueto and Andrew Sheridan for Sky Sports News, his favourite channel, who were covering the visit.

Sports fan Adam said; “It was really exciting and great to meet the players. I’m looking forward to seeing myself on TV.”

Christie patient Nathan Grimes, 21, from Leigh, added; “It was amazing to meet the players. As a rugby fan, it’s a once in a lifetime opportunity to meet the professionals.”

The Christie’s award-winning teenage cancer unit is one of only ten dedicated cancer units in the country providing specialist care and facilities for young patients between 16 and 24 years of age.

HorridM takes issue and says: “I hope we put out a good team for two reasons: 1) We need to build some confidence, 2) I’m going to that game. I can’t see us putting out too weak a team, because if we win our next two games we’ll be playing for the championship, if we don’t win them we’ll need to regain some pride.

Over in the England forum, Sharks fan Tiggers says: Back to proper rugby! Dafydd James makes his home debut and Gavin Kerr starts against his former club. Jones said, “Leeds will be hard to beat. They’ve got a good set piece and they’re desperate for a win. It’s a game that a lot of things hinge on so we really need to improve our discipline in our game. Leeds showed us back in November that they are a good side, but we have trained well this week and my players are ready and prepared for the challenge.”

In another thread on the England message board: “Time to blood another no 8? Poster and England fan JNGF says: “I’m not the biggest Easter fan, but I suspect MJ will stick with him at 8. It’s just a concern that we haven’t blooded a decent more dynamic specialist No.8 alternative with not that much time before RWC 2011.  In a sense Haskell showed he had the potential to offer this in the AIs though his short term future looks more likely to be at 6 expecially as Stade don’t play him at 8 (even with Parisse injured) which is perhaps a pity for England. Narraway seems to be off the radar at the moment. Crane imo is a bit too much of an Easter tribute band, and imo not one of our two best No8s we have to pick from. ”

“I keep harping on about this but I honestly think we need to give DWS (my preference) or Dowson (a lot of folks on here’s preference) at least one starting test in the remainder of the 6 Nations (which realistically I see us finishing mid table again, given the games coming up). Perhaps its an act of faith on my part but I still think DWS (or Dowson) could add an extra dimension to England’s ball carrying (should we break free from the awful 90s style kick and chase we’ve been subjected too recently) and provide an alternative to Easter. After all the 6 and 7 slots both have at least 3 tried and tested candidates who could do a good job there, can’t say that’s the case at No.8.”

Meanwhile, in the Scotland forum they are previewing the Edinburgh v Munster game.  Switchskier says: “So the big match this weekend will be a forerunner of the upcoming Scotland – Ireland 6N match as both national sides go back to what they know best following an indifferent 5 first matches of the championship. Seriously though, probably not a good time to play Munster as they have less players than ever in the Ireland squad I think and in some cases the second string is arguably more dangerous than the first choice (fly-half?). On the other hand we should be less effected as well and shouldn’t be that far off first choice. Big opportunity for some like the centres, Chunk and Thompson to put their hands up.”

The Ireland message board has issued an official statement – at least the poster known as the Phantom has:  “Cheryl Cole is not hiding out in my gaff. Any statements to the contrary will be dealt with by my lawyers. BTW, Cheryl love, if yer reading this, PM me and I’ll give my address. I could have the missus thrown out given 30 mins notice.”

And Mao Zedong has responded to this with “The press watchdog has decided not to uphold a complaint by Serj. Wildgoose about a Daily Mail article on the sexuality of his pint. The Press Complaints Commission (PCC) received a record 0.2 complaints about the Unca Bob comment piece which was perceived by many to be homophobic and which also lambasted the state of the durty shinner’s munshter shirt The watchdog’s head said aspects of the piece were ‘extremely distasteful but, there again, so is this Wildgoose fella’.  But the PCC said it was an essential point of principle that papers could print views which might offend readers.  Meanwhile, the Crown Prosecution Service has ruled the article did not break the law.”

But all is not bellix in the IMB – Eugene Wrayburn postulates that the Irish team vs England should be:  15. Duffy – Oh for felix jones. or Kearney. or fitzy. Or Hurley. 14. Bowe – he’s been very disappointing for me, in both attack and defence. he needs to get with his FB and support in order for them to be able to counter-attack and he needs to come off his wing more. 13. Hisself. 12. D’Arcy. he’s been in good form. i think we may need to go back to Mincer eventually because the back 3 haven’t been getting much ball and we need to move the ball wider quicker. 11. Earls- I’ll go for his better kicking ability over Trimble but only just. 10. Sexton – best 10 we have. the problem with ROG against the French apart from his missed tackle was that the french just ignored him and drifted onto D’Arcy and BOD limiting any chance we had of breaking through the middle,. knowing that the back row could mop ROG up because he was never going to get very far. 9. Reddan. TOL was awful. really bad. you could pour a pint of Guinness in the time he spent looking at the ball at the back of rucks. 1. Healy. We have no better either in the scrum or in the loose. Is he lifting Cullen? 2. Best. Change will be forced but I’d have made it anyway. It’s been a while since Fla had a really good game for Ireland and Best has been consistently excellent. 3. Court. Time to deal with the succession issues. Hayes has been a great servant but we need more dynamism and Court has good hands runs well and we didn’t lose anything in the scrum when he played thp. 4. Cullen. Our line out has been immense. it’s not been this good in a long time. It’s nice to be attacking and winning opposition ball again. 5. POC. 6. 1F. 7. Wallace. I think we’re soon coming to the point where we need to try someone else. Not because he isn’t performing, but because we don’t want the first time we do to be in a RWC. 8. Heaslip 16. Brady. 17. Hayes – Her can come on for his glorious 100.  18. DOC, if he’s fit. If not Ryan. 19. SOB. 20. TOL. Even though I’m tempted by Boss. 21. Mincer. 22. Trimble – Earls moves to FB if needs be.

And if you can understand that… Clearly Spifflicators does as he opines: “I think you’ll see Earls starting at FB and Trimble back on the wing. Maybe Shaggy as an outside bet for a bit of muscle and aggro.”

In the Latin Quarter, Tigran says of the Flannery stamp:  “We really are paranoiacs and punish Flannery for what was one of the meanest act I’ve seen in international rugby. The Irish coach feels there’s nothing wrong in it .. the french papers say he is risking from 4 weeks to 52.. What do you guys reckon ? Interestingly the chairman is Irish.” Canute responds by saying he will probably get 2 weeks, but deserves 6, which, as everyone now knows is what he got – well done Canute for letting the tribunal know what they had to do…

Fox amongst the Pumas

An urban fox has been spotted on the Millennium Stadium pitch just days before Wales take on the might of the Pumas.

Staff are hoping the arrival of the four legged intruder is an omen of good luck ahead of Saturday’s clash with Argentina.

The fox was photographed by security staff who have been on the look out after several late night sightings of the elusive animal in the shadows around the pitch.

It is not known whether the fox has adopted the iconic stadium as its home or pays visits from its lair elsewhere in the capital city.

The photograph was taken late on Tuesday night after most of the Millennium Stadium staff had left for the day.

After being snapped the fox fled into the terraces and disappeared from view for the rest of the night.

In recent weeks security staff have spotted what looks like a fox on CCTV cameras which scour the building inside and out 24 hours a day.

It is believed those sightings are of the same animal which decided to take a stroll on the newly laid turf this week.

Millennium Stadium Manager, Gerry Toms, said: “We’ve had skydivers, a helicopter, and abseilers drop in on us before now but never to my knowledge a fox.

“This is a huge stadium and we learn to expect the unexpected but none of us can hide our delight and surprise at knowing a fox has decided to turn up.

“They are notoriously shy so there is no threat but we are now on the trail to try to find out how he or she gets in and where he or she likes to hide here.

“We’ve had plenty of pigeons in the past and we introduced a hawk to frighten them off but I think some of the staff are quite pleased to know we now have a fox for company.

“Foxes are quite nimble creatures so let’s hope it’s a good omen before we take on the strength and power of the Pumas on Saturday.

“I’m sure the fans will now keep a sharp look out for our fox but I’m pretty sure he will keep a low profile when the stadium is busy for the game.

“They tell me that our young centre, Jonathan Davies, is nicknamed The Fox so maybe he’ll have an extra fan barking instructions to him at the weekend.

“We won’t be encouraging our fox to stay around the Stadium but we’re advised that it is not a real problem.

“Urban foxes are extremely common and all big towns and cities have quite large populations of these creatures who tend to be spotted late at night or in the early hours.”

Turf farm manager, Chris Medley, from Country Turf snapped the picture of the fox on his phone as he was turfing the pitch late on Monday evening.

“I had a shock when I noticed the fox but I was more surprised at how close I was able to get with my camera phone to take a picture of the Millennium Stadium’s newest fan.”

Cueto, Kennedy and Kerr

Sale Sharks first team players, Mark Cueto, Gavin Kerr and Jonny Kennedy went to Wilmslow Rugby Club last Sunday to meet the mini and junior ‘Wolves’ section and pass on some expert tips to the youngsters, in preparation of the Sale Sharks Rugby Camp at Wilmslow Rugby Club on 27Th – 29th October 2009.

Cueto coached kicking training, Kennedy taught passing drills and Kerr taught tag games and tacklings with nearly 200 6-14 year old children that attended the club training day.

As well as getting the chance to meet and be coached by the Sale Sharks first team players, Cueto, Kennedy and Kerr also answered some tricky questions! A Sale Shark’s fan and mini Wilmslow ‘Wolf’ asked Cueto, “What’s your scariest ever moment in rugby?” Cueto confessed it was waiting for the 4th Official’s decision when he scored a foot in touch at the 2007 World Cup.

Wilmslow Junior Chairman, Nick Evans, was delighted to have the Shark’s players visit the young ‘Wolves’: “The kids love to meet the players – they find it hugely motivational and always pick up a new skill or two. We really appreciate the players giving up their time and Sharks’ commitment to Community Development.”

The Sale Sharks Rugby Camp is taking place at Wilmslow Rugby Club on the 27th-29th October 2009. Children will receive 3 days of expert coaching by Sale Shark team coaches, a Sale Sharks T-shirt, a match ticket for a Sharks home game, and transport to/from our training ground in Carrington to meet and train alongside the Sale Shark first team squad.