RFU teams up with BMW

THE Rugby Football Union has signed a sponsorship deal with BMW that is understood to be a four-fold increase on their previous arrangement with Land Rover.

The four-year partnership will see BMW’s investment targeted in the development of elite players and includes shirt sponsorship for England Under-20, Under-18 and Under-16 teams.

Since the debacle of the World Cup, which included an incident on a Land Rover sponsors’ day, the RFU has signed significant new deals with O2, Canterbury and now BMW.

Stuart Lancaster, England’s new head coach, has played a key role in rebuilding the RFU’s commercial image after the hammering it took due to events on and off the field in 2011.

Last year the RFU had three different chief executives, while the team’s World Cup campaign was dogged by controversy.

“We had to learn some things and we had to do some things differently,” the RFU’s chief commercial officer Sophie Goldschmidt said. “There has been an acknowledgement of that. The partners we have spoken to have been appreciative of that.”

It is understood Land Rover responded to that work and were interested in retaining their connection with the RFU but Twickenham opted for BMW as their official vehicle partner.