Tag Archive for: RFU

STIGA Hits the Ground Running with RFU Partnership

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STIGA Hits the Ground Running with RFU Partnership: The STIGA team have been hard at work delivering innovative ground-care solutions to rugby clubs across England, following its appointment as Official Groundskeeping Partner of England’s Rugby Football Union (RFU).

The multi-year partnership with the RFU underlines STIGA’s commitment to taking the pressure off volunteers and grounds teams, while helping to create world-class playing surfaces at every level of the game, from grassroots to the elite.

STIGA Hits the Ground Running with RFU Partnership

STIGA Hits the Ground Running with RFU Partnership

As part of the agreement, STIGA has already begun rolling out equipment to clubs and sports facilities nationwide. From England Rugby training centres to local community pitches, the garden care brand is supporting the upkeep of green spaces across the country.

Clubs have welcomed STIGA’s cutting-edge autonomous robot mowers and battery-powered equipment, designed to help deliver professional-quality results with minimal effort. Early feedback from clubs has been overwhelmingly positive:

“We are really excited to be part of this initiative.”

“Thank you for giving us the opportunity to use your robot mowers.”

“We’re looking forward to seeing what this super kit can do.”

Further demonstrating its commitment to the wider rugby community, STIGA has also launched an exclusive discount programme for all England Rugby clubs, players and members, available via stiga.com. A portion of proceeds from these purchases will be reinvested directly back into the RFU community, reinforcing STIGA’s mission to support rugby from the ground up.

This landmark partnership strengthens STIGA’s growing presence in the sports sector and builds on existing collaborations with leading clubs across Europe, including Stade Toulousain in France, Bayer 04 Leverkusen in Germany, Benetton Rugby in Italy and Lech Poznań in Poland. With more than 90 years of lawn-care expertise, STIGA continues to expand its footprint in the professional sports market, helping pitches perform at their very best, match after match.

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RFU and Honda UK announce partnership

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RFU and Honda UK announce partnership: Honda has created a giant set of rugby goalposts from its fleet of new cars to celebrate the launch of a new partnership with the Rugby Football Union (RFU) and England Rugby.

The multi-year agreement sees Honda become the Performance Partner and Official Vehicle of England Rugby.

RFU and Honda UK announce partnership

RFU and Honda UK announce partnership

To celebrate it, a team at Honda’s mass distribution centre at Portbury Docks, Bristol, created the unusual rugby-themed image. A total of 49 models of varying size and colour, including the Jazz Hybrid, Jazz Crosstar and Civic, were parked into the shape of a 100ft long set of rugby posts, with numerous other cars positioned below to spell out ENG.

Rebecca Adamson, Head of Automobile, Honda UK, said: “We are thrilled to announce this exciting new partnership with The Rugby Football Union.

“On a brand level, there are huge synergies between Honda and England Rugby and we truly believe it’s a partnership that supports our own philosophy of giving everyone the ‘Power to Dream’ and we’re all very excited to see what the next few years will bring.

“For a bit of fun, we thought we’d turn our large car park at Portbury into a giant set of rugby posts which could be visible from quite a distance.”

The long-term relationship, which officially kicks off today (1 September) in time for the start of the new season, will see Honda align with England Rugby in several exciting ways.

The Honda logo will feature on the England men’s U18 and U20 playing and training kits produced by Umbro.

Honda will also become the Principal Partner to the England Rugby senior men’s official training centre located at Pennyhill Park, to be named as the Honda England Rugby Performance Centre.

In addition, Honda will provide the official vehicle fleet to England Rugby and its employees. There will be a major focus in sustainability in this area with the majority of the cars supplied having a degree of electrification.

There will also be support for community rugby in England, with Honda coming on board as the first ever title partner for the Grounds Connected programme as well as support for volunteering in the grassroots game through the Honda Volunteer Recognition Programme.

In addition to becoming the Official Automotive Partner to England Rugby, Honda will activate across their Motorcycle, ATV, Lawn and Garden products.

RFU Chief Executive, Bill Sweeney, added: “We are delighted to confirm Honda UK as an Official Partner of the RFU and England Rugby.

“Honda is a massive global brand well-known for its innovation and we are certain it will be a great fit for us. Honda’s global brand positioning is enabling ‘the Power of Dreams’ and ‘challenging spirit’ which is synonymous with our own.

“We look forward to working with Honda on what will no doubt be some exciting partnership activations over the next few years.”

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ISEKI continues to support RFU

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ISEKI continues to support RFU: ISEKI UK & Ireland has supported the RFU’s Rugby Groundsmen Connected scheme for six years by providing discounted maintenance equipment and attending educational events throughout the year, this is set to continue into 2020 and beyond.

Rugby Groundsmen Connected (RGC) is an easy access, two-way communication network between the RFU and rugby union groundsmen. It is the main communication channel for the RFU to provide information and advice to groundsmen and also has special offers and exclusive benefits for members.  Rugby Groundsmen Connected and its partners are dedicated to supporting anybody that has any involvement in the turf maintenance of rugby pitches; complete novice to Premiership groundsmen.

ISEKI continues to support RFU

ISEKI continues to support RFU

Working with trusted industry suppliers, RGC has devised a rugby club pitch maintenance equipment package.  The package is designed to meet the needs of rugby union clubs that aim to deliver a high quality pitch maintenance programme.

Commenting on the Rugby Groundsmen Connected equipment package John Clifford, ISEKI Sales Manager explained; “We offer a discounted rate to RFU Groundsmen Connected members for the ISEKI TM3267 tractor, chosen specifically as the ideal machine for rugby clubs, small enough to store in a container, lightweight, simple to use and powerful to run the other turf maintenance equipment available on the package.  Our machinery has used been at the home of England Rugby; Twickenham Stadium for many years so you can rest assured the equipment is perfect for the demands turf maintenance requires to keep the pitches in perfect condition.”

The TM3267 manual transmission tractor features an ISEKI clean burn 3 cylinder 25hp diesel engine that provides plenty of power for all tasks required around your club. It has a high comfort operator platform and easily operated controls allowing the operator to concentrate on the task in hand.  Eight forward and eight reverse gears ensures selecting the right gear for the task is never a problem and with two auxiliary hydraulic outlets a full range of attachments can be used whether trailed or linkage mounted.  Alternatively, should a higher horsepower tractor be required ISEKI can offer other products at a similar discounted rate to suit the requirements of each rugby club.

As part of the many benefits of being a registered member of the Rugby Groundsmen Connected is the ability to attend regional Pitch Maintenance Evenings held throughout the year supported by the RFU and the industry suppliers.  Here members will receive presentations, demonstrations and advice from key personnel within the industry to help advise and assist them in their roles as groundsmen.

Anyone can register to join RFU Groundsmen Connected at no cost. Registration is by email to groundsmenconnected@rfu.com.

Once signed up members will receive regular communications with advice, information and the opportunity to ask questions.  Access to new and improved RFU Pitch Improvement Partnership maintenance contractors is also only available to clubs who have a groundsman registered with Rugby Groundsmen Connected.  Members can also apply for RFU/RFF funding for pitch improvement projects.

ISEKI look forward to supporting this scheme further into 2020 and beyond, building relationships with the hardworking groundsmen, supporting them in their dedication to the sport and the turf maintenance required to keep the clubs playing all year round.

For further information on the full ISEKI range of Mowers and Tractors please visit www.iseki.co.uk or call 01473 599266 to discuss your requirements.

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Wessex Joins Forces With RFU

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Wessex Joins Forces With RFU: Wessex International, one of Britain’s leaders in groundcare equipment, has become a partner in Rugby Groundsmen Connected.

The rugby club pitch maintenance equipment package, devised by the Rugby Football Union’s head groundsman, Keith Kent, is the RFU’s easy access, two-way communication network between the RFU and rugby union groundsmen. Working with trusted industry partners, Keith’s package is designed to meet the needs of rugby union clubs aiming to deliver a high quality pitch maintenance programme. Part of this includes the Wessex ProLine CRX-180 combination mower, with castoring wheels at the front and a full width roller on the rear for a precision stripe. The award winning CRX is very easy to maintain and is suited to compact tractors from 20hp such as the Iseki TM3265, which is also offered as part of the package.

“We’re delighted to be partners and have our CRX MultiCut chosen to be part of the programme,” says Pete Farndell, Wessex International’s Marketing Manager, “being part of Rugby Groundsmen Connected is a wonderful opportunity to get close to grass roots and the rugby groundsmen. The CRX has proved itself worthy at many RFU clubs and grounds across the UK. This is an excellent opportunity to let people know of its capabilities.”

Wessex Joins Forces With RFU

What’s different about the Wessex CRX MultiCut is that it is effectively three mowers in one: roller mower, finishing mower and combination mower. As a finishing mower, with its high blade tip speed it’s in a different league for cut quality, while maintaining increased manoeuvrability in awkward areas. In its role as a combination mower it is ideally suited to front mounting on a compact tractor, with the castoring wheels reducing scuffing and the rear roller leaving the prestigious striped effect on the turf.

Everything the RFU does related to pitch maintenance now comes under the banner of Rugby Groundsmen Connected and Wessex International are proud to be a part of the RFU initiative to provide information and advice to groundsmen, with special offers, a 3 year warranty and exclusive benefits to members.

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