Castore signs major kit deal with England Rugby ahead of Women's World Cup
Castore's gone big again in the national sports kit sponsorship stakes. The performance sportswear brand has announced a new multi-year partnership to become the official Technical Kit Partner to England Rugby. That adds to its kit sponsorship of England Cricket.
Castore takes on the task at a big time for English Rugby, with the Women's World Cup set to be hosted on home soil this summer.
The brand will deliver all technical playing kit, training and travel wear across England Rugby's men's and women's teams. Castore will also supply its coaches and staff, 'uniting players and staff under a single, high-performance identity'.
Already kit supplier to several Premiership women's and men's rugby clubs, including Harlequins, the new deal with see England Rugby's established leaders and rising stars wearing the red rose supported by Castore with the new partnership "arriving at a pivotal time for English Rugby's next generation", it said.
Among the young stars are Harlequins' wing Cadan Murley who will join Castore as a brand ambassador alongside Red Roses and Six Nations stars Maddie Feaunati and Tatyana Heard.
The first wave of the new Castore range will be available in May with further kit launches planned over the summer ahead of the Women's Rugby World Cup (22 August-27 September).
The range will be available via Castore and official England Rugby store channels, including at the England Rugby Store at Allianz Stadium.
Tom Beahon, Castore co-founder and co-CEO, said: 'Partnering with England Rugby is a landmark moment… and one that we're exceptionally proud to celebrate. As a British brand, this collaboration with the national teams, especially on St George's Day, feels particularly special.
'This partnership reflects our commitment to English rugby, as we continue investing in a sport that we see a bright future for. These national teams embody our core value of Better Never Stops, focused on continuous improvements, and we're proud to stand beside them as they chase greatness and inspire fans across the country.'
.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
France 24
8 hours ago
- France 24
Gezora wins Prix de Diane in Graffard masterpiece
Gezora's jockey Christophe Soumillon produced the winner down the outside as she stormed clear with a stunning burst of pace. They flashed past the post to raucous cheers from a bumper crowd basking in the sunshine with the Chantilly chateau and its equally impresssive stables providing a suitably sumptuous backdrop. Aidan O'Brien's Irish raider Bedtime Story came with a late run and was catching Gezora but the finishing post came just in time. Graffard's Cankoura was third with Mandanaba, owned by Princess Zahra Aga Khan, fourth. Little wonder that Graffard, 48, was jumping up and down in the stands as he soaked up his achievement. "I am ecstatic," he said. "The three were not entered because I am a dreamer, they all had chances. "It is difficult to make a choice of what races you put your horses in when you have different owners. "My neck suffered as I had to follow all three with my binoculars, it was not that easy!" Graffard is usually one who is an expert at managing his emotions but mention of his father being present had him choking back tears. Graffard has a law degree, but despite not coming from a racing family, his head was turned to eventually becoming a trainer. His father had other ideas. "He wanted me to be a Formula One driver!" said Graffard. "I did not think that was a good idea and I chose racing. "However, having done that my father has supported me from day one and was in the yard when the first horse arrived. "It gives me a lot of pleasure for me to give them joy and make them proud." 'Steal away from school' Whilst Graffard was winning his second Diane, for Soumillon it was his third but first since the unbeaten Zarkava in 2008. The ebullient 44-year-old Belgian had hurled his goggles into the crowd after winning the previous race but he retained these ones whilst thanking spectators for offering their congratulations. "In the finishing straight I was a bit blocked but once I got clear of that trouble I seized my opportunity," said Soumillon. "I had a bit of luck that I got this ride as on Tuesday the horse I was due to ride fractured a bone on the gallops. "Fortunately the owners (American Peter Brant's White Birch Farm) wanted me to ride." For 78-year-old Brant it was his first Diane victory after years of trying in a sport he fell in love with as a schoolboy. "I used to steal away from school and bet on racing, it has been a long journey!" he said. The other raiders from abroad failed to land a blow, though, for a brief few seconds the lively English syndicate who own the favourite Shes Perfect threatened to bring the stand down as she led. However, there was to be no rich consolation prize for them, some of whom felt they had been hard done by when she was demoted from first to second in the French 1000 Guineas last month. She got swallowed up by the Graffard trio and Bedtime Story and faded badly. Although some of the syndicate may be regretting turning down an offer from Japan of £2.2 million ($3 million) a few days before the Diane, her trainer Charlie Fellowes believes her day on the big stage will come. The crowd and the sunshine will have been some succour to French racing chiefs amidst a time when falling betting revenue is forcing a tightening of belts. The Diane has produced some superstars down the years of the calibre of the Aga Khan-owned Zarkava and Treve, both of whom went on to win Europe's most prestigious race, the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe. Whether Gezora reaches such heights remains to be be seen but on Sunday at least she was the queen of the "Sport of Kings" for a day.
LeMonde
a day ago
- LeMonde
France says it supports Harvard, welcomes foreign students
France's foreign minister on Saturday, June 14 said his country supported students and staff at Harvard, after President Donald Trump tried to ban foreign students from the prestigious US university. "We stand with universities facing the threat of government control, restriction to their funding, constraints on their curricula or research projects," Jean-Noel Barrot said during a commencement address at the high-profile HEC business school in Paris. "We stand with Harvard faculty, with Harvard students, facing unjustified stress and anxiety right now," he added in English. "Should US courts uphold decisions to ban international students, France will offer (them) a safe place to complete their degrees," he said. Universities and research facilities in the United States have come under increasing political and financial pressure under Trump, including with threats of massive federal funding cuts. Harvard has been at the forefront of Trump's campaign against top American universities after it defied his calls to submit to oversight of its curriculum, staffing, student recruitment and "viewpoint diversity." A US court last week put a temporary stay on Trump's latest effort to stop foreign students from enrolling at Harvard. A White House proclamation a day earlier had sought to bar most new international students at Harvard from entering the country, and said existing foreign enrollees risked having their visas terminated. The US government has already cut around $3.2 billion of federal grants and contracts benefiting Harvard and pledged to exclude the institution from any future federal funding. France and the European Union are seeking to encourage disgruntled researchers to relocate from the United States to Europe. European Commission head Ursula von der Leyen said last month that the EU would launch a new incentives package worth 500 million euros ($580 million) to make the 27-nation bloc "a magnet for researchers." French President Emmanuel Macron in April unveiled plans for a funding program to help national universities and other research bodies cover the cost of bringing foreign scientists to the country.
France 24
a day ago
- France 24
Three things we learned from the World Test Championship final
Victory, secured by Aiden Markram's superb hundred, with South Africa captain Temba Bavuma making a valuable fifty, ended years of tournament heartache for the Proteas following multiple failures at the one-day international and T20 World Cups. Below AFP Sport looks at three key points that emerged from a fascinating final at Lord's. More to Tests than the 'Big Three' Two of the three WTC finals have now been won by teams outside cricket's 'Big Three' powerhouse nations of England, Australia and India after New Zealand's inaugural 2021 triumph. At a time when there are widespread fears that red-ball cricket could become the preserve of the Big Three alone, this is perhaps a sign of Test cricket's enduring competitiveness. South Africa, however, will not be playing a home Test during the upcoming 2025/26 season. And several South African observers reckoned there were more fans supporting Bavuma's men at Lord's than had seen at a home Test in years. There has long been talk of setting up a Test match fund to help cricket's financially poorer nations defray some of the costs of staging five-day games. Such a move could improve the WTC, with the current format under fire because teams do not all have to play each other or the same number of matches. "We want to play more Test cricket," said Bavuma after the final. "We want to play against the bigger nations. So I think this will go a long way in making us a lot more attractive." Australia fail to prepare With 28 wickets falling on the first two days, there was inevitably talk about whether the pitch was too much in favour of the fast bowlers on both sides. But research by analysts at CricViz found there was in fact less movement in some areas than is typical for Lord's. Not for the first time, minimal preparation was more likely the cause of the batsmen's troubles adapting to English conditions. Australia didn't have a solitary practice match in England. The experienced Steve Smith was responsible for the lone fifty by a specialist Australia batsman in the final. The title-holders still led by 74 runs after the first innings, after making 212, but Australia captain Pat Cummins said: "We could have batted the opposition out of the game by putting on well over 300 plus. We didn't give ourselves a big enough buffer and we let them back into the game." Catches still win matches The worth of the saying "catches win matches" was underlined by a sensational South Africa fielding display on the first day. After Bavuma won the toss and elected to bowl first in overcast fielding conditions, he needed his pacemen to be on their game. Kagiso Rabada, who went on to take an impressive nine wickets in the match, was on target from ball one. But Rabada and the rest of the pace attack were backed up superbly as the South Africa slip cordon and wicketkeeper Kyle Verreynne held several stunning catches. By contrast advanced slip Smith's drop of Bavuma, when the Proteas skipper had made just two, during the run chase helped turn the game South Africa's way. © 2025 AFP
