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Alex Dombrandt's dog walks have him backing the Gallagher Premiership's 'Tackling Tomorrow. Together' initiative
Harlequins forward Alex Dombrandt has called on rugby fans to keep supporting local businesses as much as they can to help them through the pandemic that has largely brought England and the rest of the UK to a standstill this winter.
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Gallagher insurance brokers, the title partner of Premiership Rugby, have just launched a UK-wide initiative that will see six businesses and one charity partnered with Premiership Rugby clubs over the next twelve months to promote their businesses.
The ‘Tackling Tomorrow. Together’ programme has seen Harlequins and London Irish join forces to support Eco Hydra Technologies who produce NHS-approved hand sanitisers. Living just outside Guildford, England prospect Dombrandt is only too aware of the resilience of local businesses who have had to adapt and innovate to survive these difficult times.
The owner of a five-month-old French bulldog, frequent walks by Dombrandt with his puppy around Guildford, the Surrey town that is home to the Harlequins training base, have helped him realise how tough it has become for local businesses to operate in the lockdown.
“It has been tough for everyone and it’s important that you keep looking at the positives in this situation,” he told RugbyPass. “Local businesses have been struggling a lot. It’s a lot quieter around the town. I guess in normal times there would be queues outside restaurants and cafes and now there is not as there are only a few people around.
https://twitter.com/premrugby/status/1355161432053133312
“When you can it is important that you support local businesses. When we go out on our dog walks and stuff, we grab takeaway coffees from local coffee shops to try and give them some business and keep supporting them.”
The impact on businesses also hits home to Dombrandt whenever Harlequins now play behind closed doors at The Stoop. “You’d get 12,000 people heading along and when they are not there it hits businesses in the area quite hard in terms of financial income. It’s important when you can that you support them. You can definitely sense it is a lot quieter and the businesses are struggling from that.”
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Six other partnerships have been struck in the ‘Tackling Tomorrow. Together’ programme. Children’s Hospice South West are linked with Bath and Exeter, Made in the Midlands with Worcester and Wasps, Wynsors World of Shoes with Sale, Ensafe with Northampton and Leicester, PECO with Bristol and Gloucester, and Dunes with Newcastle.
Gallagher ambassador Ugo Monye, a 2012 league title winner with Dombrandt’s Harlequins, added: “Covid-19 has impacted all businesses in one way or another, with many struggling or having to switch how they trade to stay afloat in lockdown.
“It’s brilliant to see Gallagher using its platform as title partner of Premiership Rugby to shine a light on some of the amazing local businesses up and down the country and hopefully help their businesses grow through these direct links with their local Premiership rugby clubs. I’m looking forward to meeting them once spectators return to stadiums and encourage everyone to celebrate the sentiment of this initiative and show your support to local businesses where you can.”
Clifton Melvin, Eco Hydra Technologies chairman, said: “It’s really great to see companies such as Gallagher offering their time and support to smaller companies during this tough period. EcoHydra has been running since 2004 and our hand sanitisers have been rigorously tested and are approved by the NHS
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“We are proud to play our part in the fight against Covid-19. Gallagher have been there every step of the way as a trusted adviser when it comes to providing EcoHydra with insurance solutions that have allowed us to adapt as demand for our products has continued to rise.”
Each organisation involved in the initiative will now be given opportunities to promote their business within their local communities to get in front of new audiences and potential customers. This includes in-stadia advertising, digital marketing and tickets to host a business networking event when spectators are allowed back into Premiership stadia.
- Gallagher’s Tackling Tomorrow. Together campaign utilises its position as title partner of Premiership Rugby to help support local businesses during the pandemic. Find out more here: ajg.com/tackling-tomorrow-
together
Comments on RugbyPass
If rugby wants to remain interesting in the AI era then it will need to work on changing the rules. AI will reduce the tactical advantage of smart game plans, will neutralize primary attacking weapons, and will move rugby from a being a game of inches to a game of millimetres. It will be about sheer athleticism and technique,about avoiding mistakes, and about referees. Many fans will find that boring. The answer is to add creative degrees of freedom to the game. The 50-22 is an example. But we can have fun inventing others, like the right to add more players for X minutes per game, or the equivalent of the 2-point conversion in American football, the ability to call a 12-player scrum, etc. Not saying these are great ideas, but making the point that the more of these alternatives you allow, the less AI will be able to lock down high-probability strategies. This is not because AI does not have the compute power, but because it has more choices and has less data, or less-specific data. That will take time and debate, but big, positive and immediate impact could be in the area of ref/TMO assistance. The technology is easily good enough today to detect forward passes, not-straight lineouts, offside at breakdown/scrum/lineout, obstruction, early/late tackles, and a lot of other things. WR should be ultra aggressive in doing this, as it will really help in an area in which the game is really struggling. In the long run there needs to be substantial creativity applied to the rules. Without that AI (along with all of the pro innovations) will turn rugby into a bash fest.
24 Go to commentsSouth Africa rarely play Ireland and France on these tours. Mostly, England, Scotland and Wales. I wonder why
1 Go to commentsIt was a let’s-see-what-you're-made-of type of a game. The Bulls do look good when the opposition allows them to, but Munster shut them down, and they could not find a way through. Jake should be very worried about their chances in the competition.
2 Go to commentsHats off to Fabian for a very impressive journey to date. Is it as ‘uniquely unlikely’ as Rugby Pass suggests, given Anton Segner’s journey at the Blues?
1 Go to commentsSad that this was not confirmed. When administrators talk about expanding the game they evidently don’t include pathways to the top tier of rugby for teams outside of the old boys club. Rugby deserves better, and certainly Georgia does.
1 Go to commentsLions might take him on if they move on Van Rooyen but I doubt he will want to go back, might consider it a step backwards for himself. Sharks would take him on but if Plumtree goes on to win the challenge cup they will keep him on. Also sharks showing some promising signs recently. Stormers and Bulls are stable and Springboks are already filled up. Quality coach though, interesting to see where he ends up
1 Go to commentsAnd the person responsible for creating a culture of accountability is?
3 Go to commentsMore useless words from Ben Smith -Please get another team to write about. SA really dont need your input, it suck anyway.
264 Go to commentsThis disgraceful episode must result in management and coach team sackings. A new manager with worse results than previous and the coaching staff need to coached. Awful massacre led by donkeys.
1 Go to commentsInteresting article with one glaring mistake. This sentence: “And between the top four nations right now, Ireland, France, South Africa, and New Zealand…” should read: And between the top four nations right now, South Africa, Ireland, New Zealand and France…”. Get it right wistful thinkers, its not that hard.
24 Go to commentsHow did Penny get the gig anyway?
3 Go to commentsNice write up Nick and I would have agreed a week ago. However as you would know Cale & co got absolutely monstered by the Blues back row of Sotutu, Ioane and Papaliti and not all of these 3 are guaranteed a start in the Black jumper. He may need to put some kgs before stepping up, Spring tour? After the week end Joe will be a bit more restless. Will need to pick a mobile tough pack for Wales and hope England does the right thing and bashes the ABs. I like your last paragraph but I would bring Swinton, Hannigan into the 6 role and Bobby V to 8
23 Go to commentsThe Crusaders can still get in to the Play Off’s. The imminent return of outstanding captain Scott Barrett and his All Black team mate Codie Taylor will be a big boost.There are others like Tamaiti Williams too. Two home games coming up. Fellow Crusader fans get there and support these guys. I will be.
1 Go to commentsCant get more Wellington than Proctor.
2 Go to commentsWhy not let the media decide. Like how they choose the head coach. Like most of us we entrust the rugby system to choose. A rugby team includes the coaches. It's collective.
14 Go to commentsHi NIck, I have been very impressed with him and he seems a smart player who can see opportunities which Bobby V _(who must be an international 6_) doesn’t see or have the speed to take advantage of. If he continues to improve and puts on 5kgs then he could be a great 8. He is a bit taller than Keiran Reid at 1.93m and 111 kgs, so his skill set fits his body size and who knows where it will lead. I hope the spate of Achilles tendon issues have been dealt with by the S&C people. It’s been a very long time since Mark Loane and Kefu stood out at 8. The question is will we be able to hold onto him, if he does make it he will be pretty hot property. I disagree with the idea of letting them go to the Northern Hemisphere and then bring them back.
23 Go to commentsBilly Fulton 🤣🤣🤣🤣 garrrmon not even close
14 Go to commentsDoes the AI take into account refs? hahaha Seriously why not have two on field refs to avoid bias?
24 Go to commentsVern challenging this Blues side might be the edge they need to fulfill their potential. Convincing results from strong D and strong carries are hard to argue against.
1 Go to commentsLove seems to add a strong back field defense with speed to close the gap and tackle to his ability to attack, kick and pass (an accurate long pass). This sets him an edge over some of the other names - JRK in particular. Has to be said that Jordan and Stevenson have also been exposed defensively while Love has yet to face test match intensity. Spoilt for choice.
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