• Home
  • Our Story
  • News Blog
  • Products
    • Packabocce >
      • Bocce Products
      • Which bocce court
    • Packagoals >
      • Football
      • Goalball
      • Handball
      • Water Polo
    • Packaline
    • Packapost >
      • Packapost Full Size
  • Stores
    • Australia store
    • Europe store
    • New Zealand store
    • USA store
  • Help guide
    • Technical information
    • Video demo
    • Care & Maintenance
    • Instructions >
      • Repair Instructions
  • Contact us
Packaworld
  • Home
  • Our Story
  • News Blog
  • Products
    • Packabocce >
      • Bocce Products
      • Which bocce court
    • Packagoals >
      • Football
      • Goalball
      • Handball
      • Water Polo
    • Packaline
    • Packapost >
      • Packapost Full Size
  • Stores
    • Australia store
    • Europe store
    • New Zealand store
    • USA store
  • Help guide
    • Technical information
    • Video demo
    • Care & Maintenance
    • Instructions >
      • Repair Instructions
  • Contact us

NEWS blog

news and stories from around the world

Portable posts debut at world-first blind rugby international

7/7/2017

 
The world’s first blind rugby international was played at QBE Stadium in Auckland on 6 July, featuring another world-first: truly portable full-size rugby posts.

Played between the Blind Lions and New Zealand Blind Rugby in the leadup to the British and Irish Lions tour finale at Eden Park, the match finished 31-0 as glimpses of brilliance from the New Zealanders were overpowered by the Blind Lions’ experience and fitness.

Inflatable ‘Rugby Packaposts’ meet World Rugby size guidelines, and were produced by New Zealand sporting products supplier Packaworld International to overcome challenges posed by conventional rugby posts, which are usually made of wood, steel or aluminium.
Blind rugby is a new sport developed by UK organisation The Change Foundation to make rugby more accessible to people with vision impairments. It is based on touch rugby, but includes scrums, lineouts and conversion kicks.

The sport is played on a 70m x 50m field, much smaller than a conventional 100m x 70m rugby pitch. As rugby posts cannot be easily moved, this led to a conundrum over how to provide a high-quality playing experience closely resembling the original game, but played on a much smaller pitch. The issue was resolved by newly created Rugby Packaposts.

Blind Sport New Zealand National Manager and member of the New Zealand Blind Rugby squad Dan Shepherd said the deciding factors in selecting Rugby Packaposts included portability, safety and cost.

“These posts have already revolutionised the game, and they are going to be a massive help to us in growing the new sport of blind rugby. With just one set of posts, we can bring the game to anywhere in the country with minimal setup cost”, Mr Shepherd said.

“When developing blind rugby with The Change Foundation, we were looking for ways the player experience could be improved and brought closer to mainstream rugby. The first international has shown what’s possible and I don’t think another product could have delivered what we needed.”

Packaworld CEO Peter Roberts said he was delighted to have the opportunity to work with Blind Sport New Zealand and The Change Foundation to find the best way to help people with vision impairments to experience the game of rugby.

“It’s a real joy to be able to help sports develop, and to give people who might not otherwise have opportunities to compete at this level the chance to represent their countries.”

Mr Roberts said the idea for portable full-size rugby posts was conceived after conversations with rugby programmes in the USA about the difficulty of growing the sport in a country with few established rugby facilities.

Two other tests will feature in the test series, to be played on 8 and 9 July at Grammar TEC Rugby Club. Blind rugby was officially launched on 5 July at an evening event at Dans le Noir restaurant in Auckland’s Rydges Hotel, where diners were served in darkness for a different sensory experience.

Find out more about Rugby Packaposts>>

A world first event for rugby - a Test for visually-impaired players>>



Comments are closed.

    OUR PURPOSE

    ​TO MAKE THE JOY OF SPORT REAL TO MORE PEOPLE - to find out more click here

    CATEGORIES

    All
    Blind Sport
    Bocce
    China
    Community Impact
    Cruise Lines
    Football
    Goalball
    Handball
    Hospitality & Events
    Lacrosse
    Media Release
    Packaline
    Packasign
    Retirement Villages
    Rugby
    Special Olympics
    US Interest
    Water Polo

    RSS Feed

Company

Home
Our story
Privacy policy
Contact us
Business Opportunity

Product information

Care & maintenance
Warranty & returns
Delivery & pricing
Standard T&C's
Partner log in

Payment

You're welcome to pay by credit card, internet banking or Paypal. Credit card payments are fully secure. IMPORTANT NOTE - Not all products are available to be purchased online. Check out each respective storefront to check on availability. 
Picture
Suite 3914, PO Box 83000,  Johnsonville, Wellington 6037, 
New Zealand

© 2023 Packaworld, all rights reserved.
Packaworld is a trading name of Packaworld International LTD and Packaworld Europe BV

Picture
  • Home
  • Our Story
  • News Blog
  • Products
    • Packabocce >
      • Bocce Products
      • Which bocce court
    • Packagoals >
      • Football
      • Goalball
      • Handball
      • Water Polo
    • Packaline
    • Packapost >
      • Packapost Full Size
  • Stores
    • Australia store
    • Europe store
    • New Zealand store
    • USA store
  • Help guide
    • Technical information
    • Video demo
    • Care & Maintenance
    • Instructions >
      • Repair Instructions
  • Contact us