Unused "England Won!" image for BBC Sport

This image was to be published online by BBC Sport if England won the 2019 Rugby World Cup, sadly this was not to be because as you all know, England unfortunately failed to beat South Africa in the final.

...And even more sadly for me, the image remains irrelevant. Thankfully I can show it off regardless.

The current squad roll up to an exclusive nightclub 

for previous winners. Waiting at the door is the 

2003 World Cup-winning squad, with expressions
ranging from bemused to whatever-I-
could-find-on-the-internet. 

The image features current head coach Eddie Jones, eyeballing the 2003 coach Clive Woodward who is posing as a doorman alongside Martin Johnson. Mike Tindall and Jony Wilkinson pause from cocktail slurping to gape from the doorway at the (not) new champions headed by Owen Farrell holding the Webb Ellis Cup. Behind Owen you should, if I've done my job correctly, be able to spot Harlequin star Kyle Sinckler and Sale Shark's Tom Curry ...Sale is just down the road from my house, where I drew this. So there's that.  

Oh, and before I go: the original ink-on-paper

drawing. I added the VIP sign later and changed

Eddie's flag from Japan to an England one. 

I should point out that most of the ideas came from Nick at BBC Sport and his crew. Good eggs.

Up the Irons!

Fruit and Football Wizards

I always make a point to use the word "diverse" in describing the range of projects I have worked on. Well, this one come straight out of left field. That being said, I had worked with famous footballers before ...and by "with" I mean as an unknown entity, on the same project, for vastly different salaries. Sad face (not really sad, I'm always happy to be employed).

Back in January, I worked on a commercial starring several Manchester United football players. The ad was for international fruit juice brand Chivita and the post-production company I worked with were Bark & Bite (Manchester). In the advert, the players (Wayne Rooney, Juan Mata, Marcus Rashford and Eric Bertrand Bailly), drink some juice before gathering round a Chivita themed pinball machine "Chivita, 100% Pinball" as the illuminated backboard says. See the video here...

As you can see the scenario is like an analogue version of Disney's Tron; the players are miniaturised and play football-pinball against the machine. My role was to create the artwork for the sides of the main body of the machine as well as the "backbox" sides and "backglass" where the score is displayed.

 Combining fruit, football to make it look hopefully interesting and pinbally:

The sides of the main body of the machine.

 Kaboom! The sides of the backbox.

Aside from a supermarket-load of fruit, that backglass is where my illustration of the players comes in. First drawn separately, they were composited together like the reflections of the players themselves, frozen in time. ...Just watch the bloody thing, it's hard to explain!

Wayne Rooney

Eric Bertrand Bailly

This is the final post-transition backbox with the 

players in their frozen reflections. Some of the above

elements were created entirely for mock-up and some 

were in the final commercial...

...Such as the fruit corners. Thanks for reading!!!