Leinster set to switch kit suppliers to Castore

The province's current contract with adidas will not be renewed.

Mon, 26 Jun, 2023 - 16:40

Simon Lewis

Leinster Rugby appear set to switch kit suppliers for next season by striking a deal with fast-growing market entrant Castore.

The Irish Examiner understands Leinster’s current five-year contract with adidas, signed ahead of the 2018-19 campaign, will not be renewed and the Irish rugby powerhouse will become the first province to sign on with Castore.

The Manchester-based manufacturer, founded by Merseyside-born brothers Tom and Phil Beahon in 2016, recently struck a similar deal with the Football Association of Ireland and supplies playing and training kit to both the men’s and women’s national teams.

The Leinster contract, believed to have been in the pipeline for the last 11 months, will not be Castore’s first venture into rugby union. They are existing suppliers to English clubs Saracens, the current Premiership champions, and Harlequins, URC rivals Scarlets and Test teams Samoa and the USA Eagles.

Castore also partners with the Premier League’s Newcastle United, Aston Villa and Wolves, Scotland’s Glasgow Rangers and Germany’s Bayer Leverkusen as well as the England Cricket and tennis star Andy Murray.

In a separate move, Castore are also understood to have become retail partners with Aviva Stadium, and are set to replace former tenants Intersport Elvery’s Sports in the Lansdowne Road, retail unit on the ground floor of the Wanderers RFC clubhouse building.

An IRFU spokesperson told the Irish Examiner that its Canterbury range of Ireland Rugby team and training apparel would continue to be sold at the site.

Leinster are not the only Irish province changing kit suppliers this summer. Connacht last month announced that it had signed a “long-term, multi-year partnership with Italian manufacturer Macron, beginning for 2023-24.

Munster’s long-standing relationship with adidas, established in 2007, remains in place with a new and well-received home jersey announced earlier this summer and the current deal in place until 2025-26.