Hundreds of thousands tune in to hear our students commentate on tournament at the home of rugby

Budding sports journalists from the University of Northampton took to the microphone for a marathon commentary session live from the birthplace of rugby.

A quartet of Multimedia Journalism undergraduates covered more than 10 hours of non-stop rugby action from the Rugby School U18 International School 7s tournament.

Ruaraidh Britton, Guy Frawley, Kirk Asiedu and Charlie Atkinson provided commentary for every match of the two-day event, with the coverage broadcast by the school on Facebook Live.

Viewers tuned in from as far afield as Bermuda, South Africa and the United States, with the live stream having more than half-a-million views on the first day alone.

In addition to match coverage during the tournament, which took place on Friday 24 and Saturday 25 March, the students also got to interview England rugby legends Martin Johnson and Jason Leonard.

The experience was organised by the University’s Journalism and Media department, in partnership with the media team at Rugby School.

Marc Webber, Senior Lecturer, said: “Our students were not only brilliant and really rose to the occasion, but also enjoyed an experience of live reporting that very few other journalism courses offer.

“To be able to commentate live on sport in the same facilities and environment that the professionals experience cannot be beaten and I would like to thank Rugby School for offering us the opportunity and their welcome.”

The University of Northampton will be launching a BA Sports Multimedia Journalism course in September – find out more on the website.