The Fiji Rugby Union (FRU) yesterday announced Swire Shipping as a major sponsor for the FRU with naming rights for the Fijian Warriors and the Fijian Tuwawa Tens Team.

FRU chief executive officer John O’Connor said that they were excit­ed to seal the deal with the globally renowned shipping company, for the next three years.

“I would like to thank Swire Ship­ping for coming on board as a ma­jor sponsor for the FRU and the two teams. This partnership will give our brand a stronger global presence and it is fantastic to add another quality member to our Fiji Rugby family,” O’Connor said.

“Swire Shipping’s support at this time is hugely appreciated and we feel the synergy between our organ­isations as leaders in our respective fields is sure to establish a long and winning relationship.”

Swire Shipping will feature on the front of both the Fijian Warriors and Fijian Tuwawa team playing and training jerseys.

“The Swire Shipping Fiji Warriors team will play Uruguay, Argentina and Italy in the 2018 Nations Cup from June 2-10 in Uruguay and the playing and training jerseys will feature the Swire Shipping logo, for the very first time at that tourna­ment” O’Connor said.

In addition to supporting the on-field performance of the Fi­jian Warriors and Fijian Tuwawa, Swire Shipping will provide essen­tial support for all of FRU’s elite teams.

“They are already arranging the shipping of new gym equipment for the Fiji Airways Flying Fijians June test campaign, departing this Friday from overseas. They will also replace the storage contain­ers at Rugby House in the coming weeks by providing new ones with their branding.

“This relationship will also give us capacity to import seats, scaf­folding, containers and other equipment for the Prince Charles Park makeover, should we win the rights to host a leg of the HSBC World Sevens Series.”

Swire Shipping Regional Manag­er-Pacific Islands Chris de Villiers said, “Swire Shipping is proud to be an official sponsor of the Fijian Warriors. As a global provider of sustainable shipping solutions, we want to support our communities and help them thrive. In the Pacific islands, we run a Swire Sport pro­gramme to help grow and develop sports such as cricket and rugby in the region. Today’s sponsorship of Fiji’s national sport underscores Swire Shipping’s ongoing commit­ment to the community in Fiji.

“Swire is already involved in lo­cal community rugby development with our support of the Daveta Rug­by Club in Cuvu. When approached by the FRU to consider sponsoring the Fijian Warriors, Swire Ship­ping saw this as an opportunity to become further involved in the community and rugby develop­ment.”

FRU