Rugby brand named as Official Supplier for 2013 Australia Tour
Rhino, the world’s leading supplier of contact and training equipment for rugby, announced today that it has been appointed as an Official Supplier to The British & Irish Lions 2013 Australia Tour.
As for the Lions 2009 Tour to South Africa, Rhino has moreover a dual role – the Somerset based company is to supply not only the training equipment the squad will use at each training venue in the UK & Ireland, Hong Kong and Australia, but also the Official Training Ball and commemorative ball collection for the Tour.
Rhino CEO Reg Clark expressed delight at the re-appointment: ‘we are thrilled to once more be a part of The Lions family for this Tour and are pleased to note the continuity in terms of personnel and other Tour sponsors. We are looking forward very much to working with them all again. Heritage is a major part of Rhino’s brand and it is hard to find a rugby entity more imbued with this than The Lions.’
Tour Manager Andy Irvine, himself a legendary British & Irish Lions player from the 1974, 1977 and 1980 Tours commented: ‘The British & Irish Lions are delighted to welcome Rhino Rugby back as an Official Supplier for the 2013 Tour. The quality of their equipment is well known and was much appreciated by the 2009 Tour management and players. Rhino is well known for being a cutting edge developer of innovative new products and is additionally now an established performance ball manufacturer.’
Today’s appointments were announced in the Attlee Room of the House of Lords at a reception hosted by Liberal Democrat peer Lord Dholakia.
The Rhino brand was established in the late seventies and has since established itself as part of the fabric of the game, not least of all through its Official Supplierships which include England Rugby, the Welsh Rugby Union, RaboDirect PRO12, the IRB 2010 Women’s Rugby World Cup, Bath Rugby, Cardiff Blues, London Wasps and St Helens Rugby League Club.
Under the stewardship of Reg Clark, who took over the company in 2006 together with Martin Johnson, the brand’s business interests have expanded to include: an extensive selection of rugby balls; Rhino-Turf, a range of artificial surfaces; RhinoGB, the brand’s fashion line; Rhino Teamwear, the team wear franchise. Over the past few years Clark and the company have won a range of awards, including Rugby Business Person of the Year in 2008/9 and in 2011 the Innovation in Rugby Award at Rugby Expo for Rhino’s latest product, the Collision King.
The British & Irish Lions: The British & Irish Lions have been touring to the Southern Hemisphere since 1888; the forthcoming tour to Australia in 2013 therefore coincides with the 125th Anniversary of The Lions concept. The key fixtures of the 2013 Tour are:
• Saturday 1 June: Barbarians v British & Irish Lions, Hong Kong
• Saturday 22 June: 1st Test Australia v British & Irish Lions, Brisbane
• Saturday 29 June: 2nd Test Australia v British & Irish Lions, Melbourne
• Saturday 6 July: 3rd Test Australia v British & Irish Lions, Sydney
Rhino have recently signed an agreement to continue as Official Supplier of Scrummaging Machines, Contact and Training Equipment to the RFU and England Rugby for a further four years, until the end of August 2013.
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