Sweating it out: Why Wallabies’ new kit supplier comes with baggage

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New Wallabies jersey supplier Castore has defended its quality control after signing a multimillion-dollar deal with Rugby Australia, which will run at least until 2030.

The English sportswear brand was founded in 2016 and, amid rapid expansion, faced criticism for quality and distribution issues in professional sport.

Wallabies Max Jorgensen, Rob Valetini and Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii wearing Castore kit in a 2027 World Cup promotion advertisement.

Three years ago, players from Premier League football team Aston Villa complained that their Castore shirts were retaining sweat and clinging to their bodies, ultimately weighing them down. That year, Wolverhampton Wanderers player Nelson Semedo played in a Castore jersey with the club’s crest upside down.

Speaking ahead of the launch on Friday with Rugby Australia, co-founder Tom Beahon said Castore had significantly increased investment in its quality control to address previous issues.

“Where we are now as a business, (in) January 2026, relative to where we were in 2023 ... is a completely different organisation, far more mature, far better invested, we’ve learned lessons as well,” he said.

“So you learn, and hopefully, you’re not going to make the same mistakes again.”

England captain Ben Stokes wearing Castore kit during the Ashes series

Castore is reportedly paying England Rugby almost $10 million a season to provide apparel for the organisation, with informed sources saying RA’s deal with the Manchester-based brand is comfortably the largest in its history.

Two years ago, Irish rugby giants Leinster’s fans complained when some of the team’s Castore-branded kit arrived without the team’s crests or with five stars to denote the club’s European Cup wins, as opposed to the correct amount of four.

Last August, fans of England’s eventual World Cup-winning women’s rugby team were unable to purchase jerseys ahead of the home tournament. Castore acknowledged it had underestimated the demand for merchandise ahead of the tournament.

Nelson Semedo of Wolverhampton Wanderers playing against Aston Villa in 2023 with an upside down crest.

Rugby Australia has switched to Castore as their kit supplier after a 12-year apparel partnership with Asics, supplying all the organisation’s representative teams, including the Wallaroos and Wallabies.

During last December’s World Cup draw, Wallabies stars Max Jorgensen, Rob Valetini and Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii were shown wearing Castore jerseys in a launch video, with the remaining squad wearing the brand during the January training camp in Sydney under coach Joe Schmidt.

England wore Castore jerseys in the recent Ashes series in Australia, and the English brand also has deals with Premier League giant Everton and Formula 1 teams Oracle Red Bull F1 Racing, McLaren, BWT Alpine.

Two years ago, Castore signed an extension to its apparel deal with Red Bull worth almost $300 million, making it the largest deal of its kind in Formula One.

In the NRL, the Sydney Roosters wore Castore jerseys between 2022 and 2025, but announced a deal with Adidas last November. There is no suggestion that this was related to quality issues.

Beahon said the RA deal represented Castore’s largest investment in rugby outside the United Kingdom and wants the partnership to increase revenue for the game in Australia ahead of men’s and women’s home World Cups in 2027 and 2029.

“The number one objective here is to reinvest back into the sport, and the more product we’re selling all over the world, the more that we’ll be reinvesting back in the sport,” Beahon said.

“So if Rugby Australia is in a stronger position, both on the pitch, but also financially, over the next five, seven, 10 years, with Castore playing, hopefully, a part of that journey, I will consider it a success.”