Monthly Archives: January 2012

Luciano Orquera of Aironi set a new kicking standard in the RaboDirect PRO12 competition with nine successful penalty kicks in the 27-13 win over Treviso in the Italian derby. The fly-half gave some of the credit for his success to the new Rhino Vortex rugby ball.

"I was delighted to score 9 out of 9 penalty kicks during...."

VORTEX ELITE INTERNATIONAL MATCH RUGBY BALL

Tony Colquitt, who recently stood down as CEO of St Helens RLFC, has joined the board of Rhino Rugby.

Colquitt became a Director of the Saints in 2005, and following his appointment as CEO in March 2007, the club won back to back Challenge Cup Finals, four successive League leaders Shields and have now appeared in six successive Grand Finals. Off the field during this period Saints secured planning and finance to move into their brand new 20,000 capacity stadium which opens shortly, and opened a new training and elite player development centre . The club also developed a wide portfolio of commercial partnerships , including groundbreaking deals with Australian based companies.

Prior to that Colquitt had over 25 years experience in blue chip FMCG companies leading to senior board level director roles, most prominently with Gillette where he covered both codes of rugby and soccer in a sports marketing and brand development capacity.

Rhino first signalled signalled their intention to move into the rugby league market when they signed a ground - breaking deal with St Helens RLFC in 2008, and recruited former Bradford Bulls player and GB rugby league Team Manager Abi Ekoku as a Director in the same year. They are also current teamwear supplier to Oxford University RLFC.

Rhino CEO Reg Clark commented: 'We are delighted to have Tony on board having got to know him well through our Official Supplier relationship with the Saints in recent years. He has a breadth of experience of brand development and marketing which together with his knowledge of the commercial aspects of the world of sport generally and rugby in particular will be invaluable to us. We also hope he will help us maintain our push into the rugby league market."

St Helens and Rhino celebrate their Official Supplier deal and Saints winning the League Leaders Shield after a draw with Wigan at Knowsley Road in September 2008. Reg Clark and Tony Colquitt hold the recently retained Rugby League Challenge Cup with Abi Ekoku far left.

Luciano Orquera of Aironi created a new goalkicking record in their pre-Christmas Italian derby game against Treviso. Aironi ran out 27-13 winners at the Stadio Zaffanella with Orquera scoring all the points with 9 successful penalty kicks at goal out of 9 attempts.

This is the highest number of penalty goals by one player in a game in the 11 year history of the RaboDirect PRO12 competition.  Orquera joins exalted company in his achievement moreover – Diego  Dominguez  kicked 9 penalties  out of 9   for Stade Francais in the 2001 Heineken Cup Final, as did Thierry Lacroix for Perpignan in the same competition, both against Leicester. Simon Mannix of Gloucester achieved the same feat in the Premiership in 2000 as has Andrew Mehrtens twice at test level.  Mention must also be given of Chris  Paterson's  achievement in kicking 8 penalties and 2 conversions out of 10 attempts in September 2009.

Orquera’s achievement further boosts the very strong goalkicking statistics across the board so far this season in the RaboDirect PRO12 with the new Rhino Vortex Elite ball.  Currently the Rhino Golden Boot Award table is headed by Leinster duo Fergus McFadden and Jonathan Sexton with 95.24% and 86.96% success rate respectively. They are followed by Ronan O’Gara of Munster with 84.21%, Rhys Priestland of Scarlets with 83.33% , Duncan Weir of Glasgow with 82.46% and Greig Laidlaw of Edinburgh with 80.36%.  Orquera’s achievement has helped his move into seventh place with 79.17%. Rhino is absolutely delighted with these statistics and with the universally positive response the Vortex Elite ball has received generally.

Luciano Orquera of Aironi:
“Sono stato contentissimo di realizzare 9 calci su 9 durante il derby contro Treviso prima di Natale perché ci ha permesso di centrare una vittoria importante. Ho scoperto solo il giorno dopo di aver realizzato un nuovo record assoluto nella storia del RaboDirect PRO12. Il nuovo pallone Rhino Vortex mi ha permesso di esprimermi al meglio, anche in condizioni meteo non ottimali. E’ un piacere da calciare”.

"I was delighted toscore 9 out of 9 penalty kicks during the derby game against Treviso before Christmas because it meant achieving an important win. I only found out the day after the game that I had made a new kicking record in the RaboDirect PRO12. The new Rhino Vortex allowed me to be at my best, even in poor weather conditions. It is a pleasure to kick".