New South Wales Rugby

Samsung & Rugby Development - A Partnership

NSW Rugby is pleased to announce Samsung Electronics Australia as an Official Partner of the HSBC Waratahs and the naming rights sponsor of Development Rugby.

"To be the first Rugby organisation associated with Samsung in Australia is a great honour," said NSW Rugby Chief Executive Officer Jim L'Estrange.

"The beauty of this partnership is Samsung's involvement at both the elite and grassroots ends of the game. Samsung is a strong global brand as are the HSBC Waratahs so the fit couldn't be better."

Samsung will be directly connected to the grassroots of the game and as an official commercial partner of the HSBC Waratahs. This creates an avenue of opportunities for these strong brands to work together to not only increase the standard of Development Rugby, but in the long term increase the player depth of the HSBC Waratahs.

"Samsung has a reputation for sponsoring some of the world's most prestigious sporting events and teams including the Summer and Winter Olympic Games," said Kurt Jovais, General Manager - Corporate Marketing, Samsung Australia.

"Through Samsung's ongoing commitment to sport, we recognise excellence in human achievement with a bigger focus on recognising youth participation.

"With the addition of a Rugby Union sponsorship including NSW Rugby and the HSBC Waratahs, Samsung now has sponsorship rights spanning the entire gamut of football codes in Australia.

"We want to communicate and build Samsung's awareness around its ongoing commitment to Australian sport which includes our focus on junior development across 2008."

Contained within the 2008 program, 15,000 Samsung/Waratah Junior Packs will be distributed throughout NSW Regional and Metropolitan areas consisting of a backpack, water bottle, ball, peaked cap, player posters & stickers which will reinforce this strong partnership to the future players of the game.

NSW Rugby and Samsung will introduce junior clubs to the "Samsung Try of the Week" which will engage and recognise young players throughout NSW.

Samsung will appear on the HSBC Waratahs training shorts and will supply the union with state-of-the-art consumer electronics products, which along the new facilities at HSBC Waratahs headquarters will make Waratah rugby a leader in its field.

Head coach of the HSBC Waratahs says the signing of Samsung in a boost for the code.

"This is great news for the team and the union," McKenzie.

"I've just seen the look on the kids' faces and they're over the moon. It's lifted the place and when the World Cup Wallabies come back next week we'll be well on our way to preparing for a strong 2008 season."

Head of NSW Rugby Training and Development, Michael Doyle, said the attention to grassroots was a huge plus in the partnership with Samsung.

"We work with these kids all the time, and to see Samsung come in at grassroots level as well, gives us the ammunition to grow and strengthen our code across NSW" said Doyle.

"My team works hard in the community, year in and year out, and this is the sort of recognition that will lift, not only the spirits of the kids, but the entire network of Youth Rugby including the coaches, managers and teams of the volunteers across NSW."