Sweating: Why the Wallabies’ new kit supplier comes with baggage

Last August, fans of England’s women’s rugby team, which eventually won the World Cup, were unable to buy kits before the home tournament. Castore admitted that he underestimated the demand for the merchandise before the tournament.

Rugby Australia have switched to Castore as their kit supplier following a 12-year apparel partnership with Asics, which supplies all of the organisation’s representative teams, including the Wallaroos and Wallabies.

During last December’s World Cup draw, Wallabies stars Max Jorgensen, Rob Valetini and Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii were shown in Castore jerseys in an introductory video, while the rest of the squad wear the brand during a January training camp in Sydney under coach Joe Schmidt.

England wore Castore jerseys in the recent Ashes series in Australia and the English brand also has deals with Premier League giants Everton and Formula 1 teams Oracle Red Bull F1 Racing, McLaren, BWT Alpine.

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Two years ago, Castore signed an extension to its apparel deal with Red Bull worth nearly $300 million, making it the biggest deal of its kind in Formula 1.

In the NRL, the Sydney Roosters wore Castore jerseys between 2022 and 2025 but announced a deal with Adidas last November. There is no indication that this is related to quality issues.

Beahon said the RA deal represents Castore’s biggest investment in rugby outside the UK and wants the partnership to boost revenue from the game in Australia ahead of the 2027 and 2029 men’s and women’s home World Cups.

“The number one goal here is to reinvest back into the sport, and the more products we sell around the world, the more we’re going to reinvest back into the sport,” Beahon said.

So if Rugby Australia is in a stronger position in the next five, seven, 10 years, both on the field and financially, and Castore plays, hopefully, part of that journey, I’ll consider that a success.