SARU appoints Rhino Rugby as official equipment supplier

Tuesday, 5 May 2015

SARU appoints Rhino Rugby as official equipment supplier

Rights-free photo caption: Albert Pestana of Rhino Rugby South Africa (back row, second left) with Springbok coach, Heyneke Meyer, and players at the announcement of Rhino’s appointment as the official supplier of breakdown and scrumming equipment to the Springboks. The players are (back row, left to right): Pieter-Steph du Toit, Victor Matfield, Adriaan Strauss and Duane Vermeulen. Front row (left to right): Juan de Jongh, Siya Kolisi, Oupa Mohoje and Willie le Roux. Pic: Gallo Images.

The South African Rugby Union (SARU) on Tuesday announced that Rhino Rugby South Africa has been appointed as the official supplier of breakdown and scrumming equipment to the Springboks for the next three years.

The first set of equipment was delivered to the Springboks at their training camp in Johannesburg on Monday.

Rhino has delivered a full squad set of the Collision King breakdown training equipment and a Dictator scrum machine to the Springbok training squad. A further three sets of similar equipment will be delivered to SARU and will be based around the country for the use of the Springboks as well as other South African national teams during training camps.

Rhino is most famous for being the first company to develop mass produced scrummaging machines in the late 1970s, and in recent years it has also become a world leader in specialist equipment to train for the breakdown phase of rugby.

Jurie Roux, CEO of SARU, said: “Training equipment has become a very important part of the modern game – even school teams nowadays use some form of training equipment, from scrum machines, breakdown machines, line out equipment and more.

“To have Rhino come on board officially with the Springboks is magnificent as they are known across the globe as the leader in specialised rugby training equipment. I know their equipment will give us an edge in this very important season and I’m sure the team can’t wait to get stuck in with our new Rhino gear.”

Reg Clark, CEO of the Rhino Group, welcomed the deal: “Rhino’s relationship with South African rugby goes back a long way and is something we are very proud of,” he said.

“An Official Supplier deal with the Springboks takes this onto a new level, however, and we are extremely excited by this development. We hope to use it as a springboard to grow our market share in our core product area and develop our brand further in this very important rugby market”.

Albert Pestana of Rhino Rugby South Africa said: “We are proud to be chosen by the South African Rugby Union as the official supplier for breakdown and scrumming equipment for the Springboks and other national teams.

“We firmly believe in the quality of our breakdown and scrumming equipment and this appointment is a testament to this fact. This deal will see our partnership with South African Rugby and our presence in South Africa grow from strength to strength. We are committed to developing the technical skills of all South African rugby players in the safest way possible, for the betterment of the game in our Africa.”

Notes to Editors: Rhino Rugby is the world’s leading supplier of contact and training equipment for rugby and in this product category is Official Supplier to England and Wales, and to the last two British & Irish Lions tours to South Africa in 2009 and Australia in 2013. Rhino was also Official Ball Supplier to those Lions tours, in addition to currently for the Guinness PRO12 league. The company is widely diversified into teamwear, leisurewear, artificial turf and male grooming products. It is also an Official Supplier to USA Rugby, the USA Sevens, the Hong Kong RFU, the Hong Kong Sevens, Japan RFU and is now an Official supplier to the SA Rugby Union. It was an Official Supplier to the Women’s Rugby World Cup in 2010 and is also an Official Licensee to Rugby World Cup 2015.

For further information, please contact Albert Pestana from Rhino Rugby:

E-mail: freight.sa@rhinorugby.com

Mobile: 082 6044905

Issued by SARU Corporate Affairs