Member Article

Together teams up with ‘world class’ rugby ace, Faf de Klerk

Specialist lender Together has joined forces with South African rugby international, Faf de Klerk, as part of its sponsorship deal with Premiership rugby club Sale Sharks.

The finance company has selected the 25-year-old scrum half, who joined the Sharks on a three-year contract, as its chosen player for the 2017/18 season.

Marc Goldberg, commercial CEO of Together said: “We’re thrilled to have secured Faf de Klerk as our sponsored player for Sale Sharks this season, as we believe he’ll prove a great asset to the team.”

Faf, who has been described as “world class” by Sharks’ director of rugby Steve Diamond, has made 11 appearances for his home country since his international debut last year.

Together’s personal finance CEO Pete Ball added: “Faf has already made his mark internationally because of his fast style of rugby and he’s still only 25, so there’s a lot of excitement that he will add some real flair in the Premiership. His emphasis on drive and commitment mirrors our company beliefs and we’re all really looking forward to watching him play.”

He crowned an impressive debut for his new club with a try, one of five the Sharks scored in a thrilling away fixture against Wasps last week. And the young half-back, one of a string of high-profile signings for the ambitious club, has already signalled the team’s intent for this coming season.

Faf said: “I’m really enjoying my time here and pleased to have the support of Together. It’s also been great getting to know the guys in the squad. A few of them have had call-ups to the England team and they are all playing with a lot of confidence, which is great to see on the pitch. There are also several players like myself who have come in from different countries this season, who really want to make an impact on the team.

“We need to score as many points as possible and not leak any tries. If we do that, the results will look after themselves.”

As a new sponsor of the Premiership rugby team, Together’s logo now appears on the Sale Sharks kit, alongside the club’s other corporate partners. The away shirt for the 2017/2018 season also features the iconic worker bee in memory of the victims of the Manchester terror attack.

Sale Sharks director of rugby Steve Diamond explains: “Having the iconic worker bee on our away shirt will only enhance the community spirit of our rugby club, whilst also expressing our intention to continue to help all of those affected by the tragic attack through the We Love Manchester Emergency Fund. Our players will wear the shirt with pride throughout the whole of the 2017/2018 season.”

Historically based in Sale, the Sharks home ground is now the AJ Bell Stadium, and they compete in the Aviva Premiership, having played in England’s top flight since 1994.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Together .