The Rugby World Cup could be the best place for singles to hook up if a poll from an online dating service is anything to go by. You don’t have to go there. You just need to be on your couch, watching like a true sports fan.
According to Elite Singles, a subsidy of European online matchmaker, Affinitas, its members are hot for rugby — not necessarily rugby players but rugby watchers. A slim majority of the 2,400 singles surveyed from around the world said they would most like to date someone who identifies as a rugby fan. Of the worldwide respondents, which included singles in B.C., Ontario and Newfoundland and Labrador, 58 per cent said they would prefer to date “someone who is really passionate about rugby.’’
Who isn’t passionate for passion?
The company didn’t get back to me with the number of Canadians polled and it hasn’t provided examples of other questions put to singles. If rugby was favoured by nearly three out of five Canadian daters, is that because the other options were darts, underwater bocce and kite flying?
Srsly tho, kite flying is pretty hot.
I love rugby, used to play rugby and occasionally write about rugby, but watching rugby not the most important dating criteria and, in Canada especially, it’s hard to believe 58 per cent of daters identify this as the preferred spectator sport of a hook-up or even a potential partner. Fifty-eight percent. That’s a higher proportion of people who voted in the last provincial election.
The press release was tailored for Canadian media, but there are duplicate releases for other countries, including New Zealand. I’d be surprised to learn Canucks were as keen as Kiwis when it came to rugby union, a sport New Zealanders have not only influenced tremendously but also consider a national pastime.
In the release targeting New Zealand media, the dating company croons: “…whether you like rugby, cricket or something else, the main thing is that you like sport — any sport!”
Yay! Sport!
A similar line minus the reference to cricket appears in the release directed at Canadian media, but is followed by this puck drop: “This means that those who rate rugby are the most dateable sports fans (sorry, hockey nuts!). Rugby fans were the clear champions…”
Know any hockey nuts? I know a few Canuckleheads.
And, Canadian media also received this: “Forget hockey and CFL: if singles want to bag a date, they should start liking rugby.” This line awkwardly follows: “…the (surprising) sport that American singles find attractive.” Which is further embarrassed by: “…the U.S. team is increasingly popular.”
No mention of the U.S. team in the New Zealand release.
The Rugby World Cup starts tomorrow. Canada plays Ireland Sept. 19 in Cardiff. The complete schedule is here.
