KooGa Rugby

Over the last few years it has been hard not to notice the impact KooGa Rugby has started to have on the rugby union landscape. What is really striking about the success of KooGa Rugby recently is the amount of professional sports teams they provide rugby gear and rugby clothing to. The list reads like a who’s who of rugby teams.

KooGa International Rugby Teams

Internationally they supply KooGa sportswear to the Wallabies from Australia and the Fijian Rugby team, both of whom are in the top ten IRB ranked countries, with the Wallabies traditionally sitting in the top 3 countries in the world. Earlier this year a new KooGa rugby jersey was launched for the Wallabies.

KooGa describe the new Wallabies KooGa rugby jersey as ‘bullet proof’ and ‘indestructible’. Some of its materials include carbon fibre and hydrosteel, so it definitely sounds tough. The new rugby jersey was launched on Australia Day this year and coincided with the announcement of a new deal between Australia and KooGa rugby that goes till the end of 2013. KooGa also provide rugby gear to the USA Eagles and the Samoan and Tongan national rugby teams.

The new KooGa Wallabies Jersey

Rugby Clubs who use KooGa Rugby Gear

KooGa Rugby seems to particularly dominate the professional club scene in the UK. They supply KooGa rugby gear to the likes of Llanelli RFC, the Ospreys, Scarlets, Swansea, Saracens, Harlequins and Bristol. In the Super 14 KooGa supplies both the ACT Brumbies and Queensland Reds from Australia.

KooGa Rugby Technology

Having such an impressive stable of professional rugby teams places them on a comparable level to traditional rugby apparel power houses as Nike, Adidas and Canterbury Rugby. Competing at this level allows KooGa rugby to stay at the forefront of rugby gear technology. They are part of the market leaders when it comes to professional rugby union apparel technology. An example of this is their revolutionary approach to match jerseys, such as the previously mentioned Wallabies rugby jersey. They have also developed ‘Evaporex’, which is they describe as a ‘lightweight polythermal fabric’, which basically expels perspiration so the player does not get bogged down by the weight and maintains the ideal temperature for the rugby player’s body. KooGa rugby gear, such as the just mentioned KooGa rugby jerseys, KooGa headgear and other KooGa protective gear are all IRB (the International Rugby Board) approved.

KooGa Rugby League

Although KooGa specialises in rugby gear, KooGa sportswear in general has started to gain traction in other sports for being durable and technologically advanced. In professional Rugby League, KooGa has also become quite predominant, providing a variety of teams with Rugby league shorts and jerseys as well as rugby league headgear where required. The Newcastle Knights, Indigenous All Stars and the NRL All Stars all use KooGa sportswear. New Zealand International Rugby League team, the Kiwis also use KooGa apparel. At the time of writing KooGa still sponsored the Melbourne Storm, although their association with the club was being questioned following the Storm salary cap scandal of 2010. In Rugby League in the UK, teams such as Wigan Warriors, Hull Kingston Rovers, Huddersfield Giants and the Bradford Bulls use KooGa sportswear as well. Former Kiwis Rugby League star and England Rugby player, Henry Paul is also sponsored by KooGa. Henry Paul has returned to Rugby League and now plays for the Harlequins.

Players Sponsored by KooGa Rugby

As well as accumulating an impressive stable of International and Club rugby teams, KooGa seem to have an impressive array of individual rugby players representing them, particularly in the Europe club scene. Saracens lock and England Captain Steve Bothwick and Wales captain Ryan Jones are both sponsored by KooGa, as is England and Bath veteran Danny Grewcock. Argentina and Leicester Tigers prop Marcos Ayerza and fellow Argentine Juan Leguizamon, who plays flanker for Stade Francais, both endorse KooGa sportswear. Italian Veteran Marco Bortolami who plays for Gloucester is also sponsored by KooGa.

Former All Blacks Bruce Reihana and Carlos Spencer are also sponsored by KooGa. Reihana and Spencer were both Northampton Saints until Carlos Spencer returned to the Super 14 to play for the Lions. I noticed recently that All Black legend Christian Cullen is employed as KooGa Rugby’s Wellington representative in New Zealand.

If it looks like there is a distinctive Northern Hemisphere flavour to the teams KooGa sponsors, it’s because KooGa is based in the United Kingdom rugby apparel company. Its head office is in Rochdale, Greater Manchester. It is clearly dominating the scene there but has started to filter south, as can be seen with supplying of KooGa rugby gear to Australian rugby union and league teams and the New Zealand rugby league team, the Kiwis. Not bad for a company that was only established in 1997.

Check out this video of the KooGa Rugby jersey in action. It features both club and international games of rugby.