Irish Rugby has named Ballygowan, a water brand part of Britvic Ireland, as its official water partner for the next four years.
The deal sees the company become one of the official partners of the Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU), which includes: the Irish Senior Team; Irish Senior Women’s Team; Senior Men’s Sevens and Senior Women’s Sevens.
Furthermore, Ballygowan is also becoming an official sponsor of the IRFU National Referee panel.
Jessica Long, Head of Commercial at IRFU, commented on the collaboration: “Irish Rugby is delighted to welcome Ballygowan as the official water partner of the IRFU.
“Keeping players’ fluids in balance is an integral part of achieving peak performance and we are delighted to be working with a home-grown Irish brand with a proven track-record in the Irish market.
“We are looking forward to further developing our relationship with Britvic and I have no doubt our athletes and fans will welcome the support this partnership provides.”
The firm will provide the union with 40,000 litres of water each year in a bid to ensure players have the ‘optimal water intake’ to maintain a normal water balance during training and matches.
Ballygowan will also support the new partnership with a new campaign, entitled ‘Bottled Wild for Irish Rugby’.
This is set to include a dedicated television commercial, out-of-home, digital and social media support, as well as in-store points of sale rolled out across retail outlets across the globe.
According to IRFU Head of Nutrition, Emma Gardner, the average rugby player can consume large volumes of water on training and match days to guarantee adequate pre-session fluid status, optimise performance and replenish fluids they lose through sweat.
Kevin Donnelly, Managing Director of Britvic Ireland, highlighted the company’s sustainability efforts, adding: “Ballygowan is bottled in Ireland, travels less miles than imported brands to get to Irish consumers, and our bottles are 100% recyclable and made from 100% recycled materials.”
