Lions face the BT Sport cameras as part of revival plans

NATIONAL television exposure could help revive the fortunes of Rugby Lions.

New channel BT Sport will feature the club as well as Rugby School and the town itself in two programmes as part of its Aviva Premiership coverage.

Plans include a feature to coincide with the Lions' first match of the season at home to Rugby Welsh on September 14.

Producers will film at the Webb Ellis statue, the museum, Rugby School, and the Lions' Webb Ellis Road ground.

A second programme will see first teams from the school and the Lions perform demonstrations at BT Sport's indoor studio pitch at the Olympic Village, under the guidance of former England internationals turned TV pundits Lawrence Dallaglio, Austin Healey, Ben Kay, Martin Bayfield and Matt Dawson.

Lions vice-chairman Jeff Nowill said the exposure would help raise the fortunes of the troubled club.

“It's enormous in so many ways,” he said.

“If you turn the clock back six months, there was some debate as to whether we'd even still be in existence for this coming season. To have an opportunity like this is absolutely incredible.”

Mr Nowill said the club would use the publicity boost to try and attract high-profile teams to Webb Ellis Road for friendly matches, and confirmed Harlequins had expressed an interest in playing a match towards the end of the season.

He said: “The more people we can get through the gates, the more money we're able to reinvest back into the club to make it a financially strong place again. Something like this just gives us the perfect opportunity to be able to achieve that.”

The club was thrown out of National League Two South last year for racking up huge debts, one year after Rugby born businessman Mike Aland took over the club with grand ambitions.

Mr Nowill said: “Every indication is that we've got through the worst.

"We've made the investments that are necessary for the season. We just want to open the doors and get people in to build the coffers up.

“We're back in the league structure now, in tier 10, and the challenge is for us to get back to the level we were at. How quickly we climb the leagues depends on how many people turn up to watch the Lions.”

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