Karma Resorts to sponsor England Sevens Rugby

Leading international lifestyle company Karma Resorts has announced a partnership with the Rugby Football Union (RFU) to sponsor England Sevens Rugby for the upcoming 2017/18 season.

The deal includes all ten legs of the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series, the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games in 2018 – including a training camp at Karma in Bali – and the 2018 Rugby World Cup Sevens in San Francisco.

John Spence, chairman and founder of Karma Group, said: “We are tremendously excited to come on board as sponsors of England Sevens Rugby. Karma has long been a proud supporter of English rugby, developing great friendships with the many England players who have stayed at our resorts, and hosting the England Men’s Sevens team training camp in Bali shortly before they went on the win the Hong Kong Sevens.

“We will be hosting them again leading into the Commonwealth Games in 2018 and hope for a similar result! We are looking forward to another wonderful season of sevens rugby for England.”

After enjoying a successful 2016/17 HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series, in which they finished second in the standings behind South Africa, England Rugby recently announced a strong 20-man sevens squad for the 2017/18 season.

Simon Amor, head of England Sevens, said: “With the addition of the Commonwealth Games and Rugby World Cup Sevens, this is going to be an extremely exciting and challenging season for the squad.

John Spence (left) with Simon Amor of England Sevens

“The opportunity to have the support of Karma Resorts and stay at one of their World Class resorts at a critical time in our season will have a huge benefit, aiding the players’ recovery and preparation, putting the team in the best place possible to achieve our goals.

“We also talk a lot in our programme about creating memories and no doubt working with Karma Resorts will create some fantastic memories this season.”

Karma has always been committed to helping develop rugby at the grassroots level, which is has demonstrated through a number of initiatives and the involvement of its Brand Ambassadors, who also assist with Karma’s extensive work with the Bali Life Foundation, providing rugby coaching clinics.

RCI affiliates Karma Resorts and Karma Group have long been active supporters of rugby, and earlier this year announced a three-year sponsorship of Rosslyn Park HSBC National Schools Sevens, the world’s largest school rugby tournament. That deal included Karma launching a competition for all Rosslyn Park HSBC National Schools Sevens Tournament schools to win the chance to be coached by a former England player or coach in the run up to the 2017 tournament, plus a one week team training camp at a five-star Karma Resort in Bali.

The company also recently highlighted its commitment to developing the future of English rugby with its sponsorship of Senior Rugby at top English rugby school Brighton College. The sponsorship will provide the teams with a plethora of additional training opportunities, including the professional recording of matches for analysis and subsidised tours throughout the year.