Canterbury Becomes New Kit Suppliers to England Rugby

Canterbury has become the new official kit suppliers to England Rugby teams in a deal that runs from September until after the next World Cup in 2015, the Rugby Football Union (RFU) announced on Friday.

The RFU gave no financial details of the four-year agreement, which media reports suggested was worth more than 5 million pounds ($7.98 million) a year, but said it was the largest kit partnership in the Union’s history.

Canterbury, bought by British retailer JD Sports Fashion in 2009, has previously supplied shirts to the All Blacks,Australia and Ireland and is currently kit supplier to South Africa and Scotland.

The previous supplier was Nike with the sports apparel company having a partnership with the RFU since 1983.

RFU chief commercial officier Sophie Goldschmidt told reporters that Nike had been keen to continue their relationship and there had been in-depth discussions before the decision was made to go with Canterbury.

“It ended very amicably,” she added in a conference call.

The new deal comes with former champions England recovering from a dismal World Cup in New Zealand last year and rebuilding for the next tournament that they will host in 2015.

“We are excited about the future,” Canterbury Chief executive Chris Stephenson told reporters. “From what we’ve seen in the Six Nations so far, the team look re-energised.”

The RFU also signed a deal earlier this month with mobile specialists O2.

by Ismail Uddin