There has been a rush of Rugby partnerships this week with Guinness, Sony, Three and Canterbury all rucking and mauling their way towards recognition within the Rugby fan base that theirs is a story worth hearing.
The players will be in the firing line against South Africa on Saturday and while this week would have been about focus and preparation the modern demands of commercial and personal branding mean there is still much to be done away from the training ground at Carton House.
Jamie Heaslip will be at the Web Summit later today while Eoin Redden, Mike McCarthy and Tommy Bowe were out and about yesterday announcing the latest IRFU deal with Kelkin. Ireland’s leading healthful company is now an official supplier of products approved by IRFU nutritionist Ruth Wood-Martin.
Speaking about the partnership, Charlie Sothern, Commercial Director from Kelkin commented “Healthy, nutritiously balanced meals and snacks are a cornerstone for performance and personal well-being,” said Charlie Sothern, Commercial Director of Kelkin.
“As an Irish company we’re proud to support our Irish sporting heroes and we look forward to cheering on the Irish Rugby Team in their upcoming games against South Africa, Georgia and Australia.”
“Refuelling the team is an extremely important part of professional rugby,” added Padraig Power, IRFU Commercial and Marketing Director.
“Irish Rugby and Kelkin are two leading Irish brands which compliment each other very well and we look forward to working with them”.
South Africa will be a tough game for the Irish team and the hope is that regardless of the result eyebrows will not be raised at the commercial demands and undertakings of players as an excuse should things go wrong.
After all the irish soccer team produced a 7-0 home win and a draw away to Germany hot on the heels of Assistant Manager Roy Keane spending more than a few minutes promoting his book recently.
The commercial world is as much a part of sport now as the performance on the field of play. The key as in everything is getting the balance right and bear in mind that 20 years ago the players would have had to go to work after training anyway.
