Canterbury of New Zealand Becomes Official Apparel Supplier of European Rugby Champions Cup

EPCR have announced today that Canterbury of New Zealand has been selected as the Official Apparel Supplier to the inaugural European Rugby Champions Cup and European Rugby Challenge Cup tournaments.

Canterbury will supply the official kit to EPCR’s match officials for the more than 130 games in European professional club rugby tournaments which kick off on the weekend of Thursday, 16 October.

The partnership with the newly-constituted tournament organiser of European professional club rugby will run until the end of the 2016/17 season.

The new-look European Rugby Champions Cup and Challenge Cup now consist of five pools of four clubs with the five pool winners and the three best runners-up qualifying for the knockout stages.

All of the competing clubs in both tournaments have qualified for the first time on merit from their respective domestic leagues, the Aviva Premiership, the Top 14 and the Guinness PRO12, or through a play-off series.

The match officials for both competitions are drawn from an elite panel made up of the leading officials from the seven countries of the participant clubs.

Canterbury CEO, Chris Stephenson, said: “This will be the 20th season of European professional club rugby and it will provide the usual level of top-class competition. It’s fantastic that Canterbury will play a key role in both the European Rugby Champions Cup and the European Rugby Challenge Cup by providing the match officials with their kit.

“With Benetton Treviso, Cardiff Blues, Leicester Tigers and Leinster Rugby all taking part and wearing Canterbury, we will have a big presence in European club rugby this season which underlines yet again our commitment to the game at all levels.”

EPCR Board Director and Executive Committee member, Bruce Craig, said: “EPCR is delighted to welcome Canterbury as a partner to European professional club rugby. We believe the new-look European Rugby Champions Cup and Challenge Cup tournaments will see European professional club rugby develop at an even faster pace over the coming seasons and we look forward to working closely with Canterbury across their markets.”