The Australian Rugby Union has entered into a partnership with Buildcorp, under which the construction services provider will take on naming rights to the women’s national team and the Women’s National XVs Championships.
Buildcorp’s logo will also feature on the women’s national team’s jerseys as part of the two-year deal, which will run until 2018.
Under the agreement, the national team will officially be titled the Buildcorp Wallaroos, while the aforementioned tournament will be known as the Buildcorp Women’s National XVs Championships.
Buildcorp already has a presence in rugby union in the country as title sponsor of the men’s National Rugby Championship. The company also has a number of partnerships with university teams across Australia.
ARU chief executive Bill Pulver said: “Women’s rugby is a core strategic focus for our organisation, as we strive to make Australian rugby a game for all, and inspire all Australians to enjoy our great global game. By 2020, we want 15 per cent of all Australian rugby players to be female.
“Buildcorp have a history of supporting rugby’s growth markets, as we saw when they became the inaugural naming-rights partner of the Buildcorp National Rugby Championship. Women’s rugby is now the fastest-growing sport in the world, with 500,000 new female players across the world joining every year, for the past few years. With Buildcorp’s support, we will harness this momentum to ensure there is a place in our rugby community for all girls and women around Australia.”
Buildcorp principal Josephine Sukkar added: “This sponsorship is just the start and we urge other businesses to commit to investing in women and growing the game. Through our shared investment, we can all help to develop stronger players, teams and leaders in rugby, business and our communities.”
This year’s Women’s National XVs Championships will take place from June 24-26 in Sydney.