LONG READ Why 42,000 fans are packing out a stadium in Bordeaux for the 'Creator Crunch'

The Champions Cup final is not the only sell-out rugby fixture on the continent on Saturday. Except events in Bordeaux will feature three periods of 20 minutes, modified set-pieces and a lot of live-streaming equipment. Think high follower numbers instead of high tackle counts.

How often have you heard concerns about rugby’s ability to get cut through with the next wave of future players and supporters? Well over 40,000 spectators will be at the Atlantique Stadium to watch a side packed full of French rugby influencers take on their English counterparts in the ‘Crunch Creator’.

“We’ve all never met before, but it’s sort-of Lions-esque in a way. Except Z-list celebrities and ex-pros. And the CEO of Clapham,” explains Archie Curzon who is, yes, the honorary CEO of Clapham.

Who knows how the actual contest will play out but the scale of the operation behind the French team, compared to their English counterparts, is quite something.

The concept was devised by content creator Djayson Karavane, real name Diego Sarthou, who has 2.1m followers on TikTok and another 1.1m on Instagram. Both of those social media networks are enormous but arguably the king in France, and this relates to Saturday’s match, is Twitch.

Crunch Creator is being broadcast live on Twitch, originally a platform to stream video games but now home to so much more than that, as well as on Canal+ in France. Alongside the content creators are a mixture of veteran players: Mathieu Bastareaud and Aurélien Rougerie for France, Delon Armitage and Nick Abendanon. Thierry Dusautoir and Ugo Monye have taken on mentoring roles with each squad.

The game itself will effectively be 10s, meaning five-on-five scrums and minimal lineout jumpers, along with rolling substitutions to give everyone some welcome time to recover.

Monsieur Prof – real name undisclosed, one million followers on TikTok and Instagram – is better placed than most as a resident of Toulouse to discuss the impressive reach that French content creators have cultivated in recent years. Prof will also be turning out for team England, having moved to France as a teenager before breaking out on social media as an English teacher, taking his lessons beyond the classroom and finding a huge audience. He was recently part of a brand collaboration with Toulouse stars Jack Willis and Blair Kinghorn for the Serge Blanco clothing range.

“France is very big on streaming, whether that is Twitch, YouTube. I think people, definitely in France, have seen a way that they can make a lot of money making quality content online,” Prof explains.

As for team England, led by Curzon, alongside Armitage and Abendanon are Alex Goode and Jonny Barrett, joined by a bunch of Made in Chelsea and Love Island alumni and some more rugby-specific content creators.

“They’re making probably eight times what I’m making in a year. So it’s definitely an industry where you’ll just grow, keep growing. And on the rugby content, rugby’s a religion down south. North in Paris, not so much, but go to Toulouse, go to Bordeaux, Perpignan, all these sorts of regions, cities, and you’ll see the love for the game.”

One member of the French squad is Lebouseuh, a recent winner of the French version of The Traitors. Paul Dena is an MMA fighter. Étienne Moustache has, well, a moustache. Other ex-pros signed up by France include François Trinh-Duc and Sofiane Guitoune, joining Bastareaud and Rougerie. It all feels very… impressive.

As for team England, led by Curzon, alongside Armitage and Abendanon are Alex Goode and Jonny Barrett, joined by a bunch of Made in Chelsea and Love Island alumni and some more rugby-specific content creators. Watching a training session a few weeks back at The Stoop, there was no lack of appetite when it came to getting stuck in to backline moves and set-piece drills, masterminded by their ringleader, the chief chat officer himself.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by RugbyPass (@rugbypass)

“I think sometimes you worry that you know people can be a bit too cool for school. But I think everyone is sort of listening with intent, and I sort of said at the end of the session last night, you’ve got to give it your best,” adds Curzon.

“It’s an unbelievable opportunity that money can’t buy. 42,000 people in Bordeaux.  It’s a real privilege to get this opportunity, and I think hopefully, we take it with two hands, and I’m not really worried about the result. It’s just giving a good account of ourselves, and I think if we do that, with the time we’ve had together, I think it’ll be brilliant.

“I’m nervous. Because I’m nervous how good I’m gonna be, and how much I’m gonna stick it to the French.”

The team at CounterRuck in particular – led by Derayo Adetosoye, who is also part of England’s squad on Saturday – do great work at trying to change the culture of the game and to take rugby to new audiences.

In terms of getting the sport through to younger generations, well, perhaps events like this are the answer. And while France feels significantly further ahead of England in terms of the number of content creators with masses of followers promoting the game in a different way, the gap is not insurmountable. The team at CounterRuck in particular – led by Derayo Adetosoye, who is also part of England’s squad on Saturday – do great work at trying to change the culture of the game and to take rugby to new audiences.

Saturday’s event and those involved will probably pass a traditional rugby audience by, which is fine. But the scale of it, with a crowd in Bordeaux exceeding the numbers who turned up to watch the finale of the Women’s Six Nations the week beforehand, along with a long list of recognisable sponsors – Societe Generale, Volvic, Andros, Gilbert – and broadcast partners including RugbyPass should underline that this is no cobbled-together stunt.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Ugo Monye (@ugomonye)

It could, and most likely will, become a viable way to grow the sport into new markets. A return Crunch Creator in England at some point feels like an option too. This year’s Sidemen FC charity match, a similar event with content creators playing at Wembley Stadium, was sold-out and raised £6.2m for charity. If rugby in England could get close to holding an event in front of a fraction of that many supporters, who knows how far it could reach. There is just one problem: they may have to play any return match without Curzon.

“I’m gonna give it my all. And if I do really well, this is headline stuff; I’ll retire from rugby if we win,” he adds. I believe him.