Two Million ABC1 Men Watch England Beat Tonga

Friday evening saw the England rugby team return to the pitch for their vitally important match against a very impressive Tonga team.

England had to win to be sure of progressing through to a quarter final showdown with the Aussies, and win they did, although not without a few scares along the way.

A peak of two million ABC1 Men (a 47.4% share) – the highest figure so far for an England match at this World Cup – watched the ITV1 coverage as England triumphed 36-20, with a couple of majestic tries from winger Paul Sackey giving England some deserved breathing space against the plucky islanders.

The coverage, on from 7.30pm-10pm, had an average of 1.6 million ABC1 Men, whilst a peak of 6.2 million adults (a 30.4% share) tuned in to check on England’s progress in the tournament.

Below are ads for HSBC and Chanel that ran in the 20.55 ad break on Friday, just before the second half of the England game.

Also in the break were ads from Orange, IBM, Carlsberg, Guinness. Capital One, Scottish Widows and an ad for the new film The Kingdom.

On Saturday, it was Wales’ turn to step up to the plate and see if they could squeeze into the quarter finals.

It was a cracking match, full of entertaining attacking rugby, although it ended badly for the Welsh, who lost 34-38 to a very talented Fiji side.

The match, the result of which saw Wales coach Gareth Jenkins unceremoniously fired yesterday, had a peak of 1.5 million ABC1 Men (a 48.8% share) watching, with an average of 964,000 of them staying tuned throughout ITV1’s excellent coverage.

Sunday was Ireland’s turn to break on through to the next round of the tournament, and for those who have taken an interest in this year’s World Cup it was no surprise to see them struggle against Argentina.

The final score was 15-30 in Argentina’s favour, and they were good value for the win, with Ireland coming off second best to the South Americans.

Ireland had needed to score four tries and beat Argentina by eight points to get through but it was all academic in the end.

The coverage had a peak of 1.2 million ABC1 Men (a 47.7% share) on Sunday afternoon, and an average of 916,000 ABC1 Men stayed with it from right from the start at 3.30pm right up to the end at 6pm.

All creatives provided by Xtreme Information

ITV: 020 7843 8000 www.itv.com