Rhino were delighted to work with fellow partners HSBC on their legacy programme on the triumphant British & Irish Lions tour to Hong Kong and Australia last summer.
As part of the programme a full set of training equipment was donated by HSBC, with Rhino’s assistance, to grass roots rugby activities in both Hong Kong and in Sydney.
Rhino still has a small amount of equipment left over from the tour, and when Group CEO Reg Clark received a request from his former school rugby coach John Mullen at his home town club West Hartlepool for assistance with a new set of post pads for their Brinkburn ground, the temptation to extend the programme to one more exotic location was too great. Clark played for West Hartlepool, initially as a schoolboy and then whilst at Oxford University, during their emergence as a first class club in the late 1970’s.
West have managed to stabilise their fortunes after losing their previous Brierton Lane ground to a developer during a spectacular fall from First Division status in the early professional era and are once more flourishing in this hotbed of grassroots rugby in the North East.
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John Mullen at West Hartlepool RFC |
Brian O’Driscoll donates training equipment to St Gregory’s school in Sydney. |
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Students at Lingnan University in Hong Kong with HSBC-Rhino Lions legacy equipment. |
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