Canterbury will once again be the official kit supplier for USA Rugby. The national sporting body has signed a five-year deal with the England-based apparel company that will see Canterbury supply kit for all of the USA’s national programs – including the Falcons, Select XV, and All-American programs. The partnership will begin in April 2019.
The deal ends USAR’s two-year association with Adidas, who had in turn replaced BLK as kit suppliers. While the Adidas move was initially well-received, a notable disagreement with the Men’s Sevens program saw the team wearing Samurai kit for several tournaments and did not reflect well on the partnership.
Well-known in the rugby world, Canterbury had previously replaced Adidas as USAR’s kit supplier following the 2007 World Cup. That agreement ran until 2014 when the BLK deal was struck.
Other nations currently under the Canterbury rugby portfolio include Canada, England, Ireland, Japan, Georgia, and Russia. They were also supplied kit for the 2017 British & Irish Lions tour and were official sportswear providers for the 2015 and 2019 Rugby World Cups.