This is the story of a brand which has matured over the past 100 years into a global superbrand and an example of the power of branding regardless of time, politics, race or culture. It helped heal the wounds after a bitter war over a century ago and caused national sportsmen to rebel against their own governments and later united a nation after apartheid was dismantled and, as a result, yielded what is widely viewed as one of the 100 Greatest Sporting Moments in history. Today, after repeated onslaughts by politicians with racial quota systems and unsuccessful threats to change its name, the brand has emerged stronger than ever, and stands proudly for winners and the ultimate respect a sporting side could earn: world champions.

The origins of the Springbok name and brandmark

The South Africa national rugby union team, commonly referred to as the Springboks or Boks for short in English, Springbokke or Bokke for short in Afrikaans and Amabokoboko in Zulu, has won the Rugby World Cup twice (1995 and 2007) and is currently ranked number one in the International Rugby Board (IRB) World Rankings.

The Springboks play in green and gold jerseys, and officially their emblems are the Springbok, a South African antelope which is also South Africa’s national animal, and the king protea, South Africa’s national flower. The Springbok (Afrikaans and Dutch: spring = jump; bok = antelope or goat) is a medium-sized brown and white gazelle standing about 75 cm high. They can reach running speeds of up to 80 kilometres per hour. The Latin name marsupialis derives from a pocket-like skin flap extending along the middle of the back from the tail onwards.

When the male springbok shows off his strength and fitness to attract a mate, or to ward off predators, he starts off in a stiff-legged trot, leaping with an arched back into the air (up to nearly three metres) every few paces, and lifting the flap along his back. That makes the long white hairs under the tail stand up in a conspicuous fan shape. This ritual is known as pronking in Afrikaans or “strutting”, meaning to boast or show off.

Springbok inhabit the dry inland areas of south and south-western Africa. They used to be very common, forming some of the largest herds of mammals ever witnessed, when millions of migrating Springbok formed herds hundreds of kilometres long. Extensive hunting and farm fences, which blocked their migratory routes have significantly diminished their numbers. Springbok get their water needs from the food they eat, and can survive without drinking water through dry seasons or even dry years.

The springbok was a national symbol of South Africa under white minority rule (including the period prior to the establishment of apartheid) and appeared on the emblem of the South African Air Force, the brandmark of South African Airways (for which it remains their radio call sign) and the coat of arms of South Africa. These have since been replaced by new designs.

Historically, the term Springbok was given to any team or individual representing South Africa in any international sporting competitions. The Springbok emblem was dropped in favour of the king protea when South Africa’s first democratic government came into power in 1994. However, the rugby union team kept the name and brandmark of the Springbok after the intervention of the then President, Nelson Mandela, who did so as a gesture of goodwill to the mainly white and largely Afrikaner rugby supporters. The South African cricket side is now commonly referred to as the Proteas.

The Springboks have played international rugby since 1891 when a British Isles side toured South Africa. At that time, the South African rugby team had worn myrtle green shirts, which the then captain borrowed from his Old Diocesan club. Rugby was so popular that in 1902 there was a temporary ceasefire in the Anglo-Boer War so that a game could be played between the British and Boer forces. The Anglo-Boer War was waged from 1899 until 1902 between the British Empire and the two independent Boer republics of the South African Republic (Transvaal Republic) and the Orange Free State. The game had spread among the Afrikaner population through prisoner-of-war games during the Anglo-Boer War.

The Springbok name and brandmark also date from the 1906-1907 tour of Britain, a trip which helped heal wounds after the Anglo-Boer War and instilled a sense of national pride among South Africans. To prevent the British press from inventing their own name for the South African rugby side, the team captain chose the Springbok to represent his side. After this, the emblem was worn on the left breast pocket of team blazers.

The 1976 Soweto riots and rebel tours

By the Second World War, New Zealand and South Africa had established themselves as rugby’s two greatest teams. In 1976, the All Blacks tour – shortly after the Soweto riots – attracted international condemnation and 28 countries boycotted the 1976 Summer Olympics in protest. The next year, the Commonwealth of Nations signed the Gleneagles Agreement that discouraged any sporting contact with South Africa. Due to growing international pressure, the segregated South African rugby unions merged in 1977.

In 1986, a rebel tour took place, in response to the scrapping of the planned All Black tour of South Africa after an interdict by the New Zealand High Court in 1985. The team was called the Cavaliers (but advertised in South Africa as the All Blacks) was not sanctioned by the New Zealand Rugby Football Union, but consisted of all but two of the original squad selected.

In 1989, a World XV sanctioned by the International Rugby Board went on a mini-tour of South Africa. All the traditional rugby nations, bar New Zealand, supplied players to the team, which consisted of 10 Welshmen, eight Frenchmen, six Australians, four Englishmen, one Scot and one Irishman.

Although South Africa was instrumental in creating the Rugby World Cup competition, the Springboks did not compete in the first two World Cups in 1987 and 1991 because of the anti-apartheid sporting boycotts of South Africa. From 1990 to 1991, the legal apparatus of apartheid was dismantled and the Springboks were readmitted to international rugby in 1992.

One of the 100 Greatest Sporting Moments

The team made its World Cup debut in 1995, when the newly democratic South Africa hosted the tournament and there was a remarkable surge of support for the Springboks among the white and black communities in the lead-up to the tournament. This was the first major event to be held in what Archbishop Desmond Tutu had dubbed “the Rainbow Nation”, with South Africans uniting behind the “one team, one country” slogan. The Springboks defeated the All Blacks in the final, which is now remembered as an iconic moment in the history of the sport, and a watershed moment in the post-apartheid nation-building process.

Nelson Mandela, wearing a Springbok rugby jersey and baseball cap, presented the World Cup to the South African captain, Francois Pienaar, a white Afrikaner, to the joy of the capacity crowd. The moment is thought by some to be one of the most famous finals of any sport and was listed as one of the 100 Greatest Sporting Moments on a British television programme. The gesture was widely seen as a major step towards the reconciliation of white and black South Africans. Notably, the day after the World Cup victory, the Zulu word for Springbok, Amabokoboko, appeared as the headline of the Sowetan‘s sports page.

A series of crises followed from 1995 to 1997, with allegations by politicians that South African rugby was an unreformed element of the new Rainbow Nation. In July 2006, Springbok coach Jake White told the press he had been unable to pick some white players for his squad “because of transformation” – a reference to the ANC government’s policies of attempting to redress the racial imbalances in national sport.

The Springboks won the World Cup for a second time in 2007 and joined Australia as the only other national team to have won the trophy twice. This also proved the southern hemisphere’s dominance, with five out of six titles to date.

South Africa’s World Cup-winning side of 1995 fielded only one non-white player. This trend continued in the team’s biggest matches of the 1999 and 2003 World Cups and, in the 2007 World Cup final, the team fielded only two non-white players. Despite a quota system intended to encourage provincial teams to field non-white players, and the fact that there are more non-white than white rugby players in South Africa, many politicians believed that the pace of transformation was too slow. South African Rugby Union president Oregan Hoskins thought there were too few non-white players in the 2007 World Cup squad and, in 2008, the first non-white coach was appointed. The political pressure on rugby coaches and administrators to select non-white players has been strong and, as a result, 16 of the 35 new Springboks appointed by former coach Jake White were non-white.

Politicians will always loose the battle with the brand

In late 2008, the Springbok brand again came under fire from politicians. The parliamentary sports committee of the ruling African National Congress (ANC) made some radical comments and demanded that the Springbok emblem and name be dropped in favour of the king protea. This sparked an outcry from supporters of the national rugby team, which is a source of deep pride, especially to Afrikaners. Some people argue that racial barriers were broken in 1995 after South Africa’s victory, when former president Nelson Mandela lifted the World Cup trophy while wearing a Springbok jersey, but the committee remarked that Mandela’s action was a matter of convenience rather than conviction.

No doubt, this latest debate has had a lot to do with the recent ANC split and with the resultant newly formed Congress of the People (COPE) party emerging as the latest opposition in the elections held in South Africa in April 2009. COPE was founded by former ANC members after the ANC’s national conference in 2007 resulted in the election of Jacob Zuma over Thabo Mbeki, the then South African President, as the ANC president.

The split also revealed underlying ethnic tensions between Zulu and Xhosa speakers, represented by Jacob Zuma and Thabo Mbeki, respectively, and their different philosophies. Mbeki pursued neoliberal economic policies and Zuma, who would become the future President of South Africa, was more left-wing and populist and has a closer relationship with the popular Congress of South African Trade Unions and the South African Communist Party.

While we are on the subject of politics and name changes, why was South Africa not renamed Azania after the 1994 elections? Azania was at the time the name of choice among revolutionary black African nationalists, and it appeared in the names of revolutionary groups such as the Azanian People’s Organisation (AZAPO), the Pan Africanist Congress of Azania and the Socialist Party of Azania. The truth is that the ANC had always been opposed to this name because of its association with the Pan Africanist Congress of Azania, which had split from the ANC.

And why was the poorly performing Bafana Bafana (the Boys), South Africa’s official national soccer team, not renamed the Proteas? It was rumoured that England coach Sven-Göran Eriksson had been offered US$3-million (ZAR30-million) to coach Bafana Bafana for the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa. Instead, the former Brazil coach, Carlos Alberto Parreira, landed the contract for US$10-million (ZAR100-million) but resigned in April 2008 for “family reasons”.

The latest Springbok debacle is a case of some ignorant and very confused politicians trying to score brownie points at the expense of South Africa and a global brand born more than a century ago. Apartheid officially died in 1994 and if the Springbok brand was seen as part of that era, it would have been scrapped then. How can it still be offensive 15 years later? Proof of the brand’s popularity among black South Africans is that more Springbok apparel and memorabilia are sold in Soweto, South Africa’s biggest black township, than in the predominantly white suburbs of Johannesburg.

Silas Nkanunu, former SARU president and one of the first blacks to be appointed to this position, stated in an interview with Agence France-Presse (AFP) in December 2008 that he believed changing the Springbok brand would not address the real issues affecting the sport’s development and its promotion among blacks. “The move smacks of political power play. Black clubs are in dire need of financial assistance, which is slowing the development of talent,” said Nkanunu.

The truth is that the Springbok brand has become a superbrand in the global sport world, is untouchable and has transcended politics and the politicians. It earns millions of dollars in sponsorship deals and, fortunately, it does not legally belong to the South African government but to the SA Rugby Union (SARU), previously known as the SA Rugby Football Union (SARFU), which registered the trademark in 1996. The global audience does not view the Springbok brand as a political symbol but as a great sport icon, one that epitomises world champions and an undeniable national passion for rugby.

Moreover, the rough and tumble game of rugby is difficult to associate with a feminine floral symbol such as the protea, and the symbol of a flower would be incongruent with the brand. Next, the politicians may want to change the jerseys to a powder pink to match the colour of the king protea. Wait, I am wrong! The current colours for the Springboks, Bafana Bafana and the Proteas are green and golden yellow, which, it just so happens, are the colours of the ruling ANC party.

Politicians who have racial hang-ups should rather stay out of sport. Their involvement in a quota system has proved disastrous as is clear from the pathetic performance of South African athletes at the Beijing Olympics. After all, sport is about who is the best and wins. It is not about a quota system or who is the blackest or whitest. It takes a long time to train and coach great sportsmen and sportswomen and is not a political event like the typical unfair (s)election so common in Africa.

Today, South Africa plays in green jerseys with a gold collar, white shorts and green socks. Their jersey is embroidered with the SA Rugby brandmark and the flag of South Africa on the sleeve. In December 2008, the South African Rugby Union chose to go the dreaded co-branding route and to place the Protea on the left side of the Springboks’ jersey, in line with other South African national teams, and move the Springbok brandmark to the right of the jersey. The new jersey was worn for the first time during the British and Irish Lions tour of South Africa in June and July 2009. The funny thing is, nobody noticed the new blossom and the Springboks were even more popular than ever, especially after their series victory over the Lions.

Politicians should take note that it does not matter if the jersey has an intricate step-and-repeat-pattern all over it, containing thousands of proteas. The South African national rugby union team will always be referred to as the Springboks because the brand will always be stronger than the politicians, regardless of all their politicking.

The general public rarely allows sports science to interfere with its deeply held beliefs, even when the beliefs are more myth than reality. When I coached basketball in Ireland, the young Irish players believed that basketball greatness was not in their genes. They said that Irishmen were not meant to be great athletes. Meanwhile, the Irish Rugby Team crushed its opponents in its preparation for the 2007 World Cup, where some experts pegged Ireland as a co-favorite with the All Blacks. While basketball and rugby are different sports requiring different skills, each features athletes who are fast, quick, agile, strong and coordinated. If Ireland produces world class rugby talent with these athletic qualities, why do Irish basketball players believe this development is beyond their gene pool?

Few view rugby and basketball in terms of athletic qualities, so few see the similarities. The same is true with sports in the United States. Many coaches and parents fail to see the athletic similarities between sports: People view basketball as a sport for tall people who can shoot; rugby as an aggressive, physical sport; and volleyball as a non-contact sport with different ball skills than other sports. We miss the athletic similarities, which impedes our overall athletic development.

Because we view sports in sport-specific terms, coaches encourage players to specialize at earlier and earlier ages. Some basketball coaches dislike players who play volleyball, as they see no benefit and feel they fall behind their teammates while “wasting time” playing volleyball. However, volleyball and basketball require lateral movement, hand-eye coordination, ball skills and vertical jumping. There is a transfer between blocking a ball and contesting a shot, between moving laterally for a dig and moving laterally to prevent an offensive player’s penetration.

As youth sports grow more competitive, more young athletes rush to specialize. They heed their coach’s advice or follow their parents’ guidance, as parents try to give their child an advantage over the competition. Early specialization – when an athlete plays one sport year-round to the exclusion of other sports before puberty – leads to immediate sport-specific skill improvements. Coaches and parents see immediate results and follow this path. If the most skilled 10-year-old plays basketball year-round, maybe my son or daughter needs to devote 12 months a year to basketball. However, athletic development is a process, and sport-specific skill development is only one piece.

People encourage early specialization because of the immediate sport-specific performance gains and ignore research which cautions against early specialization. As Alan Launder writes in Play Practice:

“In 1985, a study by the Swedish Tennis Association suggested that early specialization is unnecessary for players to achieve high performance levels in tennis. Among other things, this study found that the players who were part of the Swedish tennis ‘miracle’ of the 1980s, including the great Bjorn Borg, were keenly active in a range of sports until the age of 14 and did not begin to specialize until about the age of 16.”

Before one can be great at any sport, he must be an athlete first, and early specialization impedes overall athletic development. However, as with the Irish players, we view sports based on sport-specific skills, not athletic qualities. We ignore examples like Chase Budinger and Wes Welker. Budinger, from the University of Arizona, was an elite high school volleyball player. University of Arizona Head Coach Lute Olson believes Budinger has the athleticism to be a great defensive player because of his volleyball experience. Welker played soccer throughout his high school career and his former football coach, Texas Tech University’s Mike Leach, credits soccer for Welker’s quickness and vision which make him nearly unstoppable as a slot receiver for the New England Patriots.

In recent years, athletic training facilities have proliferated. While these facilities play to parent’s big league dreams, much of their success is developing general athletic skills which athletes fail to develop naturally because they specialize and narrow their athletic development. Rather than play multiple sports, which train multiple skills, athletes specialize in one sport and use performance training to compensate for their narrow athletic development.

Kids used to develop these athletic skills by playing multiple sports and neighborhood games. Young kids used to play tag. As speed expert Lee Taft says, “Tag may just be the greatest game ever invented…There is linear speed, lateral speed, angular take offs, moving backwards, avoidance skills, cutting, change of direction, faking skills, breaking down skills, reaching skills, body control skills, balance, flexibility, coordination, raising and lowering of the center of mass, setting up opponents, strategies, team work…Basically tag will force you to reach deep into the movement bag of tricks your body has stored, or better yet, not stored and force you to use it or learn it.”

Now, rather than play tag in the street, kids go to facilities where they do agility drills so they can change directions, fake, evade and cut when they play basketball, soccer or football. We impose professional training environments on kids before puberty and ignore their differing developmental needs. In the Swedish study, “what was most significant was that many players who had been superior to the eventual elite while in the 12-14 age group had dropped out-been burned out-of the sport,” (Launder).

Athletic development is a process and early specialization attempts to speed the process. However, what is the goal? Is the goal to dominate as a 10-year-old? Early specialization leads to early peaks. Players improve their sport-specific skills more rapidly than those who participate in a wide range of activities. However, those who develop deeper and broader athletic skills have a better foundation when they ultimately specialize. While those who specialized early hit a plateau, the others improve as they dedicate more time to enhancing their sport-specific skill.

If one specializes in basketball at 10-years-old, his general athletic development is incomplete. While he likely improves his dribbling, shooting and understanding of the game more rapidly than his peers who play multiple sports, those who play multiple sports develop many other athletic skills. If the others play soccer, they improve their vision, agility, footwork and more; if they play football, they develop different skills depending on position, but likely improve acceleration and power. When these athletes specialize in basketball at 15-years-old, they have broader athletic skills and have an advantage against the player who specialized early and likely hits a plateau in his skill development.

Skills – from athletic to tactical to perceptual – transfer from sport to sport. Many coaches and parents insist there is no relation between sports, which gives more credence to early specialization. However, before one excels at a sport, he or she must be an athlete first. The more developed a player’s general athletic skills, the higher the player’s ceiling in his or her chosen sport. While the general public is slow to accept these ideas, sports science research contends that specialization before puberty is wholly unnecessary and in some cases is detrimental to an athlete’s long term success. If the goal is to dominate other 10-year-olds, specialize early. However, if the goal is to nurture healthy children and give them an opportunity to participate in high school and/or college athletics, playing multiple sports offers a child more developmentally than does early specialization.

Greyhound racing is a widely followed sport not only by Australians but also from people in other countries all over the world such as United States, Ireland, New Zealand and Great Britain. Other countries that play the sport include Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, among others. In Australia, greyhound racing is more popular to males that belong to the working class.

All over Australia, the governing body that regulates greyhound welfare and living conditions is the Australian Greyhound Racing Association or AGRA. Aside from ensuring that greyhounds are healthy and are in good condition before they enter the race, it is also their task to facilitate overall examinations on greyhounds to make sure they are free from any medical condition, malnourishment or parasite growth.

In the state of New South Wales, The Gardens Greyhound Sporting Complex is considered one of the most popular venues for greyhound racing. It is located at Sandgate Road, Birmingham Gardens in Newcastle, and has a capacity of as much as 2,000 people. Other sports played here aside from greyhound racing are the rugby league, rugby union and soccer.

Before it took its present name The Gardens, it used to be known as the Breakers Stadium and the Topper Stadium. The said stadium was first known to many as the home of the Newcastle Breakers, a soccer team who played in the old National Soccer League before they were kicked out of the league due to financial issues in 1990.

The Breakers Stadium was next called Topper Stadium as it went through its rugby league phase, when the Hunter Mariners established in 1997 claimed the stadium as its home. It was then that it started being officially called Topper Stadium. Eventually the team and the Super League itself lost its strong foothold of the crowd. The stadium was then transformed into Newcastle’s main greyhound racing venue. The redevelopment was finally completed in 2005, then taking the name The Gardens Greyhound Sporting Complex.

The Gardens Greyhound Sporting Complex has maximum seats of 1,100. Since it used to be a sports stadium for soccer and rugby, it is capable of hosting games with attendees as many as 2,000. The sporting complex has a total of 186 on-site spots for car parking. Race meetings are held every Wednesday and Friday nights of the week.

As a soccer stadium, the venue had a primary grandstand with a seating capacity of a thousand in addition to corporate boxes. On the other end, opposite it, is another grandstand, which had broadcast facilities on top. It also had great lighting facilities that were perfect for games held at nighttime.

Setanta Sports in Dish Network is the abode of International sports that brings subscribers the complete package of premium global sports programming with non stop access to live coverage of best European and international soccer, rugby and other sports. Subscribers can watch UEFA Champions League, FA Cup, England Internationals, 2010 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers, 2012 Euro Qualifiers, Super 14, Tri Nations, Six Nations and much more lively and enjoy them. This article enables the reader to know more about the best soccer in the world.

UEFA Champions League UEFA Champions League also known as European Cup is an annual association football cup competition organized by UEFA since 1955. Setanta sports will show nearly 55 champions league including 14 live matches. The champions league is recognized as the benchmark in the world club soccer.

Air New Zealand Cup Air New Zealand Cup is New Zealand’s professional rugby union competition that was founded in the year 2006 with 14 teams. It is formerly known as the National Provincial Championship. The Air New Zealand cup champions, for each season are awarded with the Air New Zealand Cup Trophy. Setanta Sports will broadcast most games LIVE.

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge cup is a knockout cup competition in football. As it is sponsored by E.ON, officially it is called as FA Cup Sponsored by E.ON. The first competition was held in the year 1871-72 and it is the oldest football association in the world. Setanta sports has offered an extensive live coverage of all rounds.

Barclay’s Premier League The Premier League is an English professional league for association football clubs. It is the country’s primary football competition contested by 20 clubs who acts as shareholders. As it is sponsored by Barclay’s Bank, officially it is known as Barclay’s Premier League. Setanta sports will telecast more than 140 live and exclusive matches.

Chelsea TV Chelsea TV is the official television channel of Chelsea Football club. It delivers matches, news, players, information, live commentary and match highlights. Chelsea TV is found every week displaying matches in Setanta sports.

Currie Cup Currie cup tournament is the South African’s premier domestic rugby union competition. The tournament is regarded as the cornerstone of the south Africa’s rugby heritage and it is founded in the year 1889.

EDF Energy Cup EDF Energy Cup is an English and Welsh rugby union knock out competition featuring twelve premiership clubs and four welsh regions. The sixteen clubs are placed in four pools with three English clubs and one welsh club. It was founded in the year 1971 and was originally known as R.F.U club. Setanta Sports broadcast a total of 12 live matches.

Gaelic Athletic Association Gaelic Athletic Association was founded in the year 1884 by Irish men that focuses on Irish sports such as Hurling and Gaelic football. Gaelic Football is a form of football played mainly in Ireland. The ball of the Gaelic football is similar to that of the soccer ball but it is smaller in size. As per the game regulation the ball has to be carried for a distance of four feet then it has to be either kicked or hand passed. After every four steps, ball has to be bounced to kick or hand pass and kicked back to the hand. Subscribers can watch nearly 25 Gaelic football games in Setanta Sports.

Magners league The Magners League is an annual rugby union competition involving regional sides from Ireland, Scotland and Wales. It was originally known as Celtic league. The Magners league will take place between September and May. It delivers a 22 week calendar throughout the season where players can play in home and away. Subscribers can enjoy watching nearly 50 games live in Setanta Sports.

MUTV (Manchester United TV) MUTV (Manchester United TV) is an English subscription based TV channel operated by Manchester United F.C. The channel was launched in the year 1998. MUTV provides exclusive interviews with players, matches including all Premier League games, chat shows, classic games, live reserve and academy games and footballing news. Subscribers can find this game every week in Setanta Sports.

RBS 6 Nations Six Nations Championship also referred to as RBS 6 Nations is an annual international rugby union competition involving six European sides England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and wales. It was the first international rugby union tournament in the Northern Hemisphere. It is played over an eight week period in the spring of every year. Setanta Sports broadcast all the 15 games.

Russian Premier League The Russian Premier League is the top division of Russian football that was founded in the year 2001. There are 16 teams in the competition. Subscribers can watch nearly 60 live matches for every season with English commentary in Setanta Sports.

Super 14 Super 14 is the largest rugby union football club championship in Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. The competition runs for fourteen weeks. Setanta Sports shows 45 matches live.

Football League Championship Football League Championship is the second highest division in the English football league system after Barclay’s Premier League. It is referred to as Football League Championship. On regular seasons Setanta Sports broadcasts nearly 60 games.

Tri Nations Tri Nations is an annual rugby union series contest, held between Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. A total of six games will be played by teams both home and away in a round robin format. Subscribers can watch all the six games live in Setanta Sports.

Thus, Setanta Sports provides live access to coverage of best European and International soccer, football games to subscribers. Subscribers can enjoy different types of league games in different seasons.

While rugby socks are a necessity to keep the feet comfortable and dry during games and practices, why not have fun with them? There are so many colours and styles that you may struggle to narrow it all down. You don’t have to settle for something that is plain and boring for your team. They will likely enjoy the flare and being able to enhance their uniforms.

You do need to make sure you have quality in place with rugby socks. Don’t make the mistake of focusing only on how they look. Otherwise, you may discover they wear thin and get holes in them quickly, they fade, or they don’t allow enough air to circulate for a player to stay comfortable in them.

Customised for the Team

You can add personal touches with customised rugby socks. Your team will be thrilled with this and it also helps them to feel appreciated. Keep in mind, each player should own several pairs of these socks. You want to encourage them to have a clean pair for each game and practice, not wearing them again and again without washing because they only have one pair!

Most rugby socks are longer and they fit just below the knee. Make sure what you buy is going to fit the regulations for the league you belong to. Some of them are very picky about the length of this part of the uniform. You don’t want to buy great rugby socks only to learn your players can’t wear them or they will be disqualified.

Consider what the rest of the uniform looks like before you buy the socks. They should blend well rather than standing out. The uniform needs to look smooth and flow well, not be choppy and distracting. As you see the many choices, some will start to get your attention more than others.

Materials

Evaluate the materials for them very closely and ensure they aren’t going to slip when the players move. This is a very active sport and they need the socks to remain securely in place. Avoid materials that don’t hold their shape well too because after they are washed, they are going to be too thigh in some areas. Then they will be loose in others and it going to be distracting.

Shop for well-known brands that have an excellent reputation. There is a reason why such items are highly recommended. Avoid buying any particular brand or style though due to who is endorsing them. Unfortunately, celebrities often endorse those items and it increases price but there isn’t significant value with them.

Shop Around for Great Deals

It is best to buy all of the rugby socks from the same vendor for each of the players. If they need to pay for their own uniforms, they can then pay you for those items. Otherwise, you will end up with too many variations in regards to the shade of them and the materials they are made from. You want them all to be the same, and you may be able to get a lower per pair price in bulk.

Make sure you buy items that are durable so they will last a very long time. You want your players to get through the season with the same number of them they started out with. If you buy cheap quality ones, they won’t hold up to this type of sport. You will have to get more for the player before the season ends. It is wise to invest the money in better quality at the start.

It’s funny, how the majority of us can become enthralled by people who throw, run with, catch or kick a ball. Leather or pigskin, it doesn’t matter. We love it.

We marvel at the athleticism, the freakish skills, an ability to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat and vice versa. We love it when it goes right and we love it just as much when it goes wrong because then we become that exalted oracle of all that is good and true, otherwise known as the armchair critic.

We love the on field entertainment. But every now and then an elite sports person comes along who can be as entertaining just by opening their mouth and saying a few words. One of those people is an Australian rugby player called Nick Cummins.

To know Nick Cummins is to love him. But the hard part is the getting to know him especially if you don’t come from Australia. Nick Cummins speaks English but not as you know it. To follow what he is saying requires an understanding of the peculiar, eccentricities of Australian English. If you don’t have a grasp then you won’t know what the hell he is talking about.

Let me just lay a couple of Nick Cummins-isms on you so you’ll get what I mean.

Nick Cummins has a nickname. He is known as the Honey Badger. He was being interviewed after a rugby match and was asked how he came by the nickname and this is what he said:

“One of the stories that inspires me is that it is documented that a honey badger killed a lion in a one-on-one. What happened was that he clawed the canastas off the big fella. He just went one-two on the ball bag and the big fella has walked around the corner and fell over… that to me is outstanding.”

If you read that paragraph two or three times you might get what he is eluding to. Sort of. Possibly. The Japanese don’t. Nick Cummins is currently playing as a professional in Tokyo and the Japanese called him the Honey Budger, which is kind of cute.

But really, Nick Cummins needs to be accompanied at all times by a professional translator. Lucky for you, I speak perfect Australian and I am happy to translate his best quotes and turn them into something resembling English.

Quote: “I just saw the line, pinned me ears back and ended up bagging a bit of meat in the corner which was tops.”

Translation: I caught sight of the try-line, accelerated to the very limit of my abilities and managed to score, which was pleasing.

Quote: “Yeah mate I bloody was like a rat up a drain pipe in one of them runs there.”

Translation: I ran particularly fast in one instance.

Quote: “He was huffin’ and puffin’ and, mate he did well, he always does, he’s a tough rooster.”

Translation: My teammate was breathing heavily but he persevered. He always does. He is very hardy.

Quote: “I’m gonna have a truckload of pudding and uh, old mum’s good on the cook too so, Dad’s got the tucker ready over there and mum and dad are gonna work together and form a massive feed and I’m going to come in and dominate it.”

Translation: I intend to eat a large volume of pudding. My Mother is more than competent at the culinary arts as well. My Father is getting the food ready over there. The two of them will combine their talents to create a meal of sufficiently large proportions. Then I intend to devour all of it.

Quote: “I was busier than a one-legged man in a bum kicking contest.”

Translation: I was under extraordinary pressure because of the workload I was given during the match.

Of course when people hear Nick Cummins come out with this stuff they are a bit shocked but in a good way. To borrow an Australianism, the Honey Badger is a fair dinkum character and sadly there are too few of them.

But it would be too easy and unfair to describe Nick Cummins as a one trick pony when it comes to producing actions that we can laugh at and admire both on and off the sports field.

He is also a very devoted and loving son to his parents and his brothers and sisters. As a rugby player, Nick Cummins is at the very top of his game. He plays test match rugby for Australia. But very recently he turned his back on the game in Australia to play professional rugby in Japan but not for the reasons that you might think.

Yes he did it for the money. But not for himself, it was for his family. Nick Cummins’ father has incurable prostate cancer which has made him unable to work and that has been a considerable drain on the family finances. Nick Cummins has seven siblings, two of whom have cystic fibrosis, an incurable lung disease. So Nick has stepped in and stepped up. He accepted a lucrative contract but it will go to help the family during some very tough times.

Cummins has 40 thousand followers on Instagram, 34 thousand on Twitter and his match videos have millions of views on YouTube.

He is one of the few people who can win over an entire host nation on an Australian rugby tour with a few choice words said in a post match television interview.

While he’s been in Japan he has shot some television commercials. You should check them out. Just like the old spice guy but way more funnier IMO.

So he is gone but not forgotten. Hopefully, he will be back soon to entertain us again. The world needs guys like Nick Cummins and not just because we like to watch a skilled athlete. He makes us laugh and that, is the best kind of medicine there is.

I was born in Salford and worked for many years within the City but after a long absence I returned there recently for a brief visit. In reality, I visited Swinton which is a separate location within the City of Salford and is home to a small but busy shopping centre and the administrative offices of Salford council.

Famous Salford resident LS Lowry, who painted famous pictures of “match stalk men and match stalk cats and dogs” was actually a life long resident of Swinton and lived on Station Road nearby.

Swinton, and particularly Station road, are also famous for a Rugby League team who were once one of the biggest names in the game and in 1927/28 were one of only three clubs to win all four cups played for in one season. Their successful team of the 1960’s won the Championship twice with stars such as Alan Buckley, John Stopford and Ken Gowers.

Station Road was the venue for numerous international matches between Great Britain and other nations in particular Australia for the Rugby League Ashes. It was once called the “Aussie graveyard” because for many years Australia were unable to win there.

In 1930 at Swinton, in the third and deciding Test with the score standing at a very unusual 0-0 and time running out, Australia’s half-back Joe “Chimpy” Busch picked the scored what seemed like a match winning and Ashes winning try. Busch and his team were jubilant but the referee consulted the touch judge and over-turned his original decision.

In 1948, the Second Test match was played at Station Road and before the game, the Australian players paid homage in the corner where “Chimpy” Busch had been denied but they lost the match 17-6 and The Ashes with it. Station Road, once again proved to be the graveyard of the Aussies.

In 1950, Australia won the Ashes for the first time since 1920 when they won a series 2-1 on home soil but Great Britain regained them in 1952 at Station Road.

CLICK HERE to see some footage

In 1963, the Australians finally won at Station Road and became the first Australian team to win an Ashes series way from home. The result was a 50-12 massacre which was a record score at the time. Station Road was no longer an “Aussie graveyard”.

In 1992, the famous Swinton club had fallen upon hard times and the then directors decided to sell the ground to a housing company to clear debts. No consultation process was carried out with the supporters, the local council or the Rugby League authorities. It was an act of treachery and betrayal.

The Rugby League team are still called Swinton but have since played their matches at various locations including Bury FC and Sedgeley Park RU and have struggled ever since. They are currently enjoying their best season for many years and stand top of Championship 2. They play their games at The Willows which is the home of fierce rivals Salford but at least it is close to their traditional home. There is talk of them moving to a new purpose built stadium nearby. Let’s hope so

Station Road is a now a nondescript housing estate and when I visited I saw no mention made of its significance in Rugby League history. There was no signpost, no commemorative plaque or even roads named after famous Swinton, Great Britain or Australian players. It really is a great shame.

Mark Gasnier was born on July 19, 1981 and raised in Sydney in New South Wales, Australia. He is one of the young and popular professional football players in Australia. He plays for the St. George Illawarra Dragons in the National Rugby League.

He is also known to be the nephew of the famous Rugby League legend, Reg Gasnier. Reg Gasnier is named as one of the 20th century’s finest players. After his football playing career, he also became a football coach.

Mark Gasnier played for the Australian Schoolboys team in 1998 and 1999, while he attended high school at the famous Peakhurst High School. He then toured in New Zealand with the Australian Schoolboys in 1998.

Gasnier debuted in his junior rugby league playing for the Renown United club in the St George District. Mark Gasnier made his 1st Grade debut for the Dragons in the round 8 of the 2000 season against the Newcastle Knights and made his International debut in a 2001 Test match against the Papua New Guinea Kumuls and scored a try in each match.

In 2004, Mark Gasnier was taken out of the New South Wales State of Origin team because of a harsh and controversial phone message he sent.

In 2005, after trudging himself as the best centre of the team, he won the Dally M Centre of the Year. In that same year, it was reported that Mark Gasnier would be able to progress to rugby union. Gasnier entertained highly publicized meetings with New South Wales Waratahs Coach, Ewen McKenzie and Wallaby Coach, John Connolly. Nonetheless, he finally signed for a new one year contract, with added one year options for the next four years with the St George Illawarra Dragons. In 2006, he once again won the Dally M Centre of the Year.

At the start of 2007 it was reported that Mark Gasnier, together with Jason Ryles and Ben Hornby would captain the St George Illawarra Dragons. Gasnier was moved to five-eighth position for the Dragons, even though he was famous for being the centre.

After tackling with Nigel Vagana in the Charity Shield pre-season finals, Mark Gasnier unfortunately tore his pectoral muscle. As a consequence, he was not able to play until July. Gasnier made a big comeback to the St. George Illawarra Dragons on July 21 in the five-eighth position. Fortunately, the team won against the Penrith Panthers with a score of 38 – 20.

He was chosen to play for the Australian Kangaroos in October against the New Zealand Kiwis in Wellington.

Gasnier became the sole captain of the Dragons for the season of 2008. He came back to the centre position with Matt Cooper.
He is now chosen to join the New South Wales Rugby league team for the 2011 State of Origin series.

In the rugby world at present the game of sevens is never far from the lips of supporters, players and coaches alike. 2009 is a massive year for the modified form of the game of rugby with the decision being taken on the sport’s entrance into the 2016 Olympics by the IOC in October. Given the timing one of the oldest, most famous sevens events taking place in August takes on extra significance.

The Middlesex Sevens started 14 years after the last appearance of rugby at the Olympic Games in 1926 and was traditionally held in May at the end of the rugby season before being moved to it’s new date of mid-august in 2001. Bar the 4 years between 2005-2008 the tournament has always been an invitational tournament attracting teams from all over the world and across the rugby codes.

The top English league sides have always featured heavily and in its present form make up 12 of the 16 entrants for the tournament. They have not necessarily dominated in the way some might expect though with the tournament having been won through the years by teams such as St Mary’s Hospital (now Imperial Medics), Loughborough College, Metropolitan Police, Wigan Warriors, the Barbarians, the Penguins, Bradford Bulls and the British Army. Of all the top sides in today’s English game Harlequins from just over the A316 at the Stoop have won the event the most times, totaling 14 wins and they will be back to defend their title this year.

The tournament organisers have recently announced 2 of the invitation sides that will be taking their place alongside the Premiership giants. The first of these will be the side that many of the spectators who pack out Twickenham for the day will be used to seeing. The British Army won the event in 2001 and 2004 and after losing out last year Howard Graham and his side of South Sea Island soldiers will be looking to win back the trophy taking a number of big name scalps along the way.

The Army play in tournaments all around the world and have recently arrived home from an unsuccessful venture to Roma Seven. That being said the Army is a side that is feared throughout the sevens world and will be expected to compete for the overall title come August.

The second of the invitational teams announced is one that is sure to bring huge numbers through the gates at HQ. The Kenyan Sevens team have become a real force on the world stage in the past couple of years defeating England, South Africa, New Zealand and at this year’s World Cup in Dubai, Fiji.

With the players and their fans love for the game they have become everyone else’s second team, be it through their exciting brand of rugby sevens or their dancing to the Kayumbeta after tournaments, the call of ‘Lets go Kenya, lets go’ can be heard wherever they play. An invitation to this years Middlesex Sevens was extended to the Kenyan Rugby Union which acknowledges their place in the rugby playing elite as well as the their draw for spectators.

Kenyan coach Benjamin Ayimba will surely be using the tournament has an opportunity to look at players before the IRB season starts again in Dubai this coming December. When not playing in International competition the Kenyan side take on the title of ‘Shujaa’ which means that sometimes certain players become Kenyans for the day such as one Waisale Serevi who played for the Shujaa in Nairobi in 2005 much to the joy of the home fans.

The addition of 2 such great sides to what is already a tournament packed with talent can only help the occasion as the RFU and Premier Rugby aim to showcase the club game of sevens. If another festival of rugby with thousands of fans packing out Twickenham takes place as it did in May for the IRB London Sevens, the IOC will once again have to take notice.

The sevens game has made some giant leaps in recent years, and it’s due to this that the game is part of the conversation for the Olympic Games. To see a centre stage tournament that has been going for 75 years embracing both the new and the old, the message this sends to those decision makers in Switzerland is one that can only be deemed positive.

20-year-old Sam Burgess is one of the hottest professional rugby league stars to watch out for. The prop and back rower, who used to be under contract to the Bradford Bulls of the Super League until the end of the 2010 season, recently transferred to the South Sydney Rabbitohs. By inking a deal with one of the most popular rugby clubs on the planet, the young Burgess was able to fulfill his dream of finally penetrating the Australia National Rugby League. After being swooned by a host of other clubs, he was convinced by no one else but actor Russell Crowe (who has controlling interest in the Rabbitohs) to sign with the South Sydney club.

Burgess owes a portion of his success on the field and in the career side of things to the careful guidance of his manager, Chris Caisley. Caisley saw a lot of potential in Burgess even before the latter made his Great Britain debut and snagged in 2007 the Super League’s young player of the year award shortly thereafter. Before joining his present club, the South Sydney Rabbitohs, he played for England in the end-of-the season Four Nations tourney where he scored two tries in spite of England’s submission to Australia. Although he missed the 2008 World Cup in Australia due to an injury, he contributed in England’s win over France 66-12 in June of the present season. He is set to make the final cut for the next Four Nations series having been selected by Coach Tony Smith to be a part of the train-on squad.

Only two other Englishman has a spot in the NRL in 2010 and Burgess is one of them. Loose forward Wigan favourite Mark Flanagan will be joining the Wests Tigers next year and incidentally Gareth Ellis, Burgess’ England team-mate has just finished an initial season with the same club. Burgess admits that leaving England for a chance at NRL wasn’t an easy decision, but he has been thrilled at the idea of playing in Australia. This is understandable since he made his grand debut when he was 14 at Bradford and has many mates at his original club. With a new chapter of his life at Souths, Burgess fulfills a wish that he has had since he was 15. He credits the Bradford Bulls for shaping his career, notably the coaches and the staff of the England club. He names Steve McNamara as having a great influence over his athletic career.

Even if it was a tough decision to accept, Peter Hood, Bradford’s head chairman, said they couldn’t stand in the way of Burgess’ dream. Although they did everything they could in order to convince the player not to leave, they respect Burgess for being honest about his ultimate objective of testing himself in the Australia playing field.