Dreams that never end
Simon Leung, a former international rugby player who represented Hong Kong for quite a long time, currently has a cricket dream. Born and raised in Hong Kong, Simon played for Hong Kong in 15s and 7s rugby and today his wish would be, strangely, a World Cup win for the New Zealand Black Caps.
There more than one reason why Simon backs the Black Caps. The first, having an English and cricketing background and the prime, the Black Caps are being dressed by his employers – Canterbury. Simon is ardently backing New Zealand to win the ICC World Cup and being a former international athlete himself, he is proud of the fact that present-day sportswear has the ability to give that extra push for a fine performance on the field.
“There’s no magic on the uniforms. The performance of the Black Caps in this tournament goes to the efforts and commitments they have put in. They have worked hard to reach the ICC World Cup 2015 final and what I would say is the kits look nice on them and hopefully that has an effect. Yes they should win it,” Simon told the Sunday Times while in Sri Lanka on an official assignment. Besides the Black Caps, Scotland were wearing Canterbury, a rugby brand that is gradually earning a reputation.
“Scotland too produced some surprises. For us, as a brand, having the Black Caps in the final is fantastic. Winning the final would be great. Canterbury has had a good year in 2014 and we want that trend to continue. With our association the England Under-19s won the Junior Rugby World Cup, the England ladies won the Women’s Rugby World Cup, Australia Kangaroos won the Rugby League World Cup, New South Wales Waratahs won the Super Rugby title, Leister won the Pro12 championship, Japan won the Asian5Nnations title and now we are looking forward for the Black Caps to win the world cricket title. We definitely take pride in all these achievements,” he added.
The reason behind why Simon makes frequent visits to Sri Lanka is not a strange factor. His employer, Canterbury, had made big plans on the Island Nation knowing how rugby-mad the country is. The Canterbury logo, the silhouettes of three Kiwis on three solid circular backgrounds creating the letters CCC; the initials of the Canterbury Clothing Company, started invading the rugby field in Sri Lanka and now it has made plans to stay. First they were visible on the playing shirts of school rugby teams and then top clubs and now Canterbury has started to spread its wings.
“This year is important for Canterbury since it’s the year of the IRB Rugby World Cup in England. It’s important for us because not only are we involved with merchandise but we are also sponsors of the home team, England. We just want to make sure all of our partners are well supported and maximise the opportunities through the IRB World Cup.”
“The RWC is the third biggest sports event after the Olympics and the FIFA World Cup. It will be unique platform where new viewers and participants to the game will join. We, as a product are going to be visible at this event. Canterbury has been featured in all the Rugby World Cup finals since the very first one in 1987 except in 2003. Both teams, or one or at least the match officials were wearing Canterbury.”
According to Simon the brand is currently associating with nine international rugby union teams, two international cricket teams, over 35 top club teams around the world, which also includes Sri Lanka’s Kandy SC and CR&FC, seven top division cricket teams around the world and beyond. In Sri Lanka it supports most of the top school rugby teams.
“I have been here in here since 2009. It’s a great confidence for us because rugby is big and popular here. None of our competitors has a history and heritage like we have. We will be 110 years old this year, after it was founded in 1904 in New Zealand, where rugby is a huge sport. As a brand we are aware of the change of attitudes in Asia. The RWC 2015 in England is on the way but our real focus will be on the RWC 2019 in Japan, where the market is big. We also understand there are core markets in the region where Sri Lanka, Malaysia and Singapore are in”.“For us it’s more about our association in grassroots rugby. Quite often when people see big teams wearing big brands they often forget what the little teams are meant to the sport. We have England and Ireland which is at the top of the mountain and fantastic, but at the same time the school teams are also equally important, because they lay the foundation at the bottom. We want to show the world that we are not just a rugby brand for the elite but a rugby brand for everybody, big and small. Anyone who pulls on an England, Ireland or a Kandy SC shirt has played rugby further down the line, learned the sport somewhere, those are people who needs equal amount of support as much as players. We understand there’s a huge opportunity here. Sri Lanka has the biggest player base in Asia next to Japan. We trust, where rugby is so popular, Canterbury intends to be the brand to all. We are getting there. And we will continue building that image and travel along with the country’s rugby to the top,” Simon, who recalled on his second international rugby game against the Tuskers stated.
“I’m very envious of the rugby structure they have here, the clubs, the school set up, the coaching methods and especially the supporters and followers. You get school games where tens of thousands spectators flock in to watch, which is unbelievable. Sri Lanka rugby has come a long way, it has invested in coaches, it has a good player base and the players are highly talented. I played my second international game against Sri Lanka and the last I saw them playing at the Hong Kong 7s was phenomenal. They grow day after day but sad not to see reach beyond where they are today. Certainly there are possibilities of reaching that goal, I’m sure they will, like us.”