Harlequins to wear O’Neills kit

MUNSTER’S opponents in this week’s Amlin Challenge Cup semi-final have signed a four-year deal with kit manufacturers O’Neill’s, which marks a significant breakthrough in the English market for the Irish company.

The deal with Harlequins is the brand’s first with a professional rugby union outfit and comes after considerable time and effort spent building recognition of thecompany in the south-west ofEngland, where over 30 clubs now wear their logo.

“Those little rungs on the ladder have given us the ability to get the tender for the Harlequins contract,” said one of thecompany’s UK sales managers,Peter Kennedy. “This will nowfurther our development of the rugby union brand in the UKmarket.”

O’Neill’s manufactures playing, training and leisure kits for 28 of the GAA’s inter-county sides (Cork, Kerry and Dublin among them), soccer clubs like UCD and Wexford Youths, rugby’s Cork Constitution and a range of other sportsincluding boxing, basketball,athletics and hockey.

The 93-year old company may yet have another Aviva Premiership side sporting theirapparel next season if the Cornish Pirates can achieve promotion from the Championship, while it also supplies kit to rugby league sides such as Widnes and Workington.