Renewal extends the partnership well beyond 10 years.
1 April 2025 – Gilbert and United Rugby Championship are pleased to announce the renewal of their successful long-standing partnership, with Gilbert continuing as the official ball supplier for the URC globally.
As part of the new agreement, Gilbert will continue to supply its world-class balls to all 16 URC clubs for URC matches, as well as all URC community and development programmes, as well as a full licensed URC supporter ball range in the Northern Hemisphere and South Africa.
In recent season’s Gilbert has helped amplify the URC Communities United project, which sees teams travelling across hemispheres visiting and engaging with local communities and fans. Gilbert will continue to show their dedication to this partnership through their support of URC campaigns aimed at engaging with fans.
Gilbert have also supported a number of our themed rounds that take place throughout the URC season which are designed to create an environment where everyone feels welcome and to hype up the match day experience for some of our younger future fans. Uniquely designed Gilbert rugby balls have added a fan-centric touch to these occasions.
The URC renewal comes on the back of Gilbert recently renewing a number of their key rugby partnerships including with; RWC 2025, the Federation of Italian Rugby, the Scottish Rugby Union, the Welsh Rugby Union, the Federation of French Rugby, Rugby Romania and with leading rugby provinces in South Africa. The URC is proud to continue an already long-standing partnership with a trusted and respected global rugby brand.
Martin Anayi, United Rugby Championship’s CEO said: “ The renewal of this partnership with Gilbert Rugby ensures that the URC continues to benefit from the world’s premier rugby ball brand. As an elite rugby league, we are proud to collaborate with an equally esteemed partner whose ball is synonymous with top flight rugby union. We are delighted to have been able to extend this longstanding relationship, with a focus now on further engaging with rugby fans globally via Gilbert’s retail network and look forward to working with them to innovate for the benefit of the game and fans. “
Gilbert Rugby Commercial CEO, Richard Gray said “We are delighted to be renewing our long and successful relationship with URC. This represents a ringing endorsement of the Gilbert match ball and the wider brand strength and service we offer by players and officials alike, across all the participating clubs. We are excited by the potential the enhanced deal gives us to work more closely together to help URC to continue to build the impact of the Tournament, across what is a unique blend of influential and iconic rugby nations”.
The Official Gilbert Rugby URC rugby balls are available online and in sports retail stores now from gilbertrugby.com in Europe and https://www.gilbertrugby.co.za/ in South Africa.
About Gilbert
Gilbert Rugby is a legendary brand with 200 years of expertise in crafting the finest rugby balls. From humble beginnings in the 1820s, Gilbert Rugby has become the ball of choice for the world's greatest rugby competitions. With a reputation for innovation, precision and quality, Gilbert Rugby is the ultimate symbol of rugby excellence. Proud to be the official ball of every Rugby World Cup since 1995, Gilbert is a market leader in the production and supply of rugby goods including: rugby balls, rugby boots, rugby clothing and rugby equipment.
It is the official supplier of the most prestigious rugby tournaments and competitions in the world, such as World Rugby, Guinness Six Nations, European Professional Club Rugby, United Rugby Championship, Premiership Rugby, Super Rugby, the Rugby Sevens event at Paris 2024 Olympic Games HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series and most of the World’s leading international teams.
Dating back to 1823 and celebrating its bicentenary in 2023, Gilbert has a unique heritage, with William Gilbert supplying some of the very first rugby balls to Rugby School, when William Webb Ellis first picked up the ball and ran with it. Today, Gilbert’s iNNOVO match ball remains the preferred choice of the world’s leading players and competitions, with the now famous coloured Gilbert ellipse trims, synonymous with the game, continuing to be used to enhance player and fan visibility and engagement.
About United Rugby Championship
The United Rugby Championship (URC) is an elite club rugby tournament spread across five countries containing over 350 international players and some of the world’s most famous teams.
A total of 16 teams from Ireland, Italy, Scotland, South Africa and Wales play in a league format over 18 weekends to decide which eight sides qualify for the Play-Offs. After the Quarter-Final and Semi-Final stages, two teams compete in the annual URC Grand Final to decide that season’s champion.
The URC has two title partners, Vodacom in South Africa and BKT Tires in all other territories. The league’s partners also includes Qatar Airways, OFX, Kappa and Gilbert.
