Premiership Rugby has extended its partnership with Gilbert.
Gilbert’s Sirius match ball will feature in both Gallagher Premiership Rugby and the Premiership Rugby Cup. The preferred choice of the world’s leading nations, Gilbert has been the official ball at the Rugby World Cup for the last seven consecutive tournaments and will be used exclusively at Rugby World Cup 2021 in New Zealand and France 2023.
Bath Rugby’s Rhys Priestland, who was the Gilbert Golden Boot winner for the 2019-20 season said: “For players across the league having a world-leading match ball, brings confidence in executing during matches what we practice day in day out on the training field. It is important for us all, within Gallagher Premiership Rugby, to have the ability to train and compete with such high-quality rugby balls.”
Gilbert remains one of the game’s best-known brands to have featured in the sport, and will be celebrating their bicentenary during this extended partnership.
Over this time Gilbert has consolidated its position as the leader in manufacturing rugby balls and rugby training equipment, whilst driving innovation in the sport including ball-tracking technology, which will add additional value to this next phase of collaboration.
Mark Brittain Chief Commercial Officer at Premiership Rugby said: “Gilbert are Premiership Rugby’s longest-serving partner and I’m delighted to announce that we will be using their iconic ball for another three seasons.”
“Gilbert has been the ideal partner since its association with the Premiership began in 1997 and they complement the values of Premiership Rugby perfectly. The next three seasons should see the implementation of a number of exciting collaborations including a focus on driving innovation in our sport, with the focus on improving the game for players and fans alike.”
Richard Gray CEO Commercial at Gilbert Rugby adds, “We are delighted to renew our long and successful relationship with Premiership Rugby and to extend our investment in rugby, both at the elite level and through the award-winning community programmes that Premiership Rugby runs so successfully.
“Celebrating such a successful and long-standing partnership with Premiership Rugby is testament to the hard work and dedication that the team at Gilbert are proud to offer the rugby community.
“We are particularly pleased to be able to announce this partnership in the lead up to the Gallagher Premiership Rugby Final and the culmination in what has been an extremely testing season for everyone involved.“
