Twitter is at the heart of this year’s tournament like never before, bringing fans closer in ways that simply weren’t possible four years ago.
Whether you’re lucky enough to be heading to the stadiums or will be following the action from the other side of the world, there are plenty of ways to stay connected through Twitter.
Emojis
To celebrate the start of the tournament we have launched special Rugby World Cup emojis.
Fans can join the conversation using these emojis in two ways:
- The official tournament hashtag — #RWC2015 — will bring up a selection of rugby-themed emojis that will rotate throughout the six weeks. There will be plenty of surprises along the way, including a player diving over the try line and a rugby kit
- Each nation will also have their own emoji flag on Twitter. The emoji will be in the form of a rugby ball with the national flag inside. This emoji will show up on Twitter when fans Tweet with the national abbreviation (for example, England fans will use #ENG). It will also show up when fans of each nation use a unique rallying cry (for example, England fans will use #CarryThemHome).
This GIF below features all of the hashtag triggered emojis:
Twickenham
The national stadium, often referred to as The Home of Rugby, will offer fans around the globe the chance to have their voice heard.
There will be huge rectangular screens mounted on the stadium, arching over the iconic player entrance, exclusively powered by Twitter and Vine content throughout the six weeks of rugby. Tweets and Vine videos will feature the opening ceremony, fan experiences, player arrivals, official team news, travel updates, and other tournament news as it breaks.
London landmarks
In a world first, @TheO2 arena has been transformed into a canvas for a spectacular 3-D projection mapping light show. Fans can Tweet their messages of support using #WearTheRose and, for the first time, have them projected onto the roof of The O2, visible from space.
Laura Wright, one of the biggest selling classical artists of the last decade and the England Rugby official anthem singer, launched the huge light projection show by performing “Jerusalem” on the roof.
Man of the match
The official Man of the Match award for every #RWC2015 game will be voted for through Twitter.
The commentators on the @RugbyWorldCup audio feed will nominate a shortlist of three candidates towards the end of the game. These will then be Tweeted out by @RugbyWorldCup and fans will then be able to vote for the official MOTM for that game by using one of three hashtags — #MOTM1, #MOTM2 or #MOTM3 — with each hashtag designated to a given player.
The man of the match will be exclusively revealed in a signed GIF via the Twitter Mirror, which will be on hand at every venue, and also with each of the 20 teams.
Look out for behind-the-scenes photos and videos, brought to you by custom-made Twitter Mirrors, throughout the tournament.
The match ball
For the first time ever in a global sporting tournament, the match ball will have the official tournament hashtag on it! Every line-out, scrum, and conversion will have Twitter at its core, with #RWC2015 on every ball.
The team buses
Each of the 20 RWC nations have their own team bus that will be making its way around the UK over the next six weeks. Every bus invites fans to follow their country on Twitter, and show their support using the official hashtag
