Rhino Launches Official Ball at Lions Press Conference

Pictured above with the Rhino Lions ball are Lions Tour Manager
Gerald Davies, Robert Howley, Sean Edwards and Rhino CEO Reg Clark.

Rhino Rugby yesterday launched the Official Training Ball of the British & Irish Lions Tour to South Africa 2009. At the Press Conference held at the HSBC offices in Dublin to name Ian McGeechan’s coaching team of Warren Gatland, Robert Howley and Sean Edwards, Rhino CEO Reg Clark unveiled the striking new ‘celtic’ style designs based on the shape of a Lions claw. Rhino will have a full range of Lions ball products on offer from November. In addition to being the Official Training Ball Supplier for the tour, Rhino are also supplying their market-leading scrummaging machines and contact and training equipment to the Lions.

England Team Manager Martin Johnson makes the Rhino England Draw at Rugby House, Twickenham with Reg Clark, CEO of Rhino Rugby.

Bishop Vesey’s Grammar School in Sutton Coldfield were picked out of the hat today by England Team Manager Martin Johnson in Rugby House Twickenham to win the Rhino England Draw prize of two places at the England training session at Penny Hill Park on October 28th. Bishop Vesey’s Head of Rugby Zac Feaunati, former Samoa and Bath No 8, was “stoked” at the news of the win and is looking forward to selecting two of his pupils to take up the prize. Bishop Vesey’s have recently taken delivery of a considerable amount of Rhino equipment and thus qualified for our top 50 clients list in England to enter the draw. More Rhino prize draws will follow during the season – watch this space.

Neil Back and Reg Clark hold the winning ticket
for Broughton Park with Mark Fletcher

England World Cup winner, Lions legend and Leeds Carnegie coach Neil Back has drawn North 2 West club Broughton Park as the winner of the Rhino Rugby - Pitchero prize draw.

Pitchero, the innovative new social networking platform for sports clubs, presented a Rhino World Cup match ball to the first 50 clubs who had 20 registered members on their Pitchero website and the first 40 clubs to have 50 members were entered into the draw for £1,000 worth of Rhino ground equipment.

The draw took place at the Leeds Rugby clubhouse shared by Leeds Carnegie and the Leeds Rhinos and was attended by England, Lions and Great Britain rugby league hero John Bentley, who is currently Community Marketing Manager for the combined operation, Reg Clark, Chief Executive of Rhino Rugby and Mark Fletcher of Pitchero.

John Bentley with Rhino Hit Shield

The Inaugural Rhino International Rugby Festival at Browns Sports & Leisure Club in the Algarve was held on the weekend of October 4th and 5th and was a resounding success.

Taking its lead from the O2 Scrum on the Beach events held in Trafalgar Square and other venues around England in the summer, the centrepiece was a tournament held on the Browns purpose built permanent beach rugby facility in which local club Vilamoura triumphed 5-3 over the touring Kew Occasionals side in the final. Amongst a number of coaching events and clinics was a SCRUMSMART event focussing on scrummaging technique for beginners which used the Rhino Dictator machine which again is a permanent training feature for the many sides who visit Browns for warm weather training. This has in the past included the national squads of England, Australia and Ireland and a great many professional clubs from Europe and further afield. The machine itself is something of a collectors piece, being the one used in France by England to hone their scrummaging techniques to such a high level in sweeping aside Australia and France on their way to the 2007 Rugby World Cup final. Rhino have had a partnership with Browns to supply their contact and training equipment for some time, and both parties are keen to make this Festival an annual event, hopefully next year involving both union and league codes.