Banking group ASB has expanded its partnership with New Zealand Rugby to cover the women’s national team and the Maori All Blacks.
ASB already supported the men’s national team, the All Blacks, under a three-year deal signed in March 2015. The new agreement incorporating the women’s Black Ferns and the Maori All Blacks will run until 2020.
The new deal will cover the All Blacks’ campaign at the 2019 Rugby World Cup in Japan, where the team will be looking to defend the title it won in England in 2015. The Black Ferns are also the defending Women’s World Cup champion having won the title last year.
New Zealand Rugby’s head of women’s rugby development, Cate Sexton, said: “To have a major New Zealand company like ASB throw their weight in behind the Black Ferns is fantastic and will no doubt inspire even more young women to take up the game.
“By committing to the All Blacks, Maori All Blacks and Black Ferns, ASB has shown they are a company that embraces diversity and shares NZR’s values.”