AUCKLAND, New Zealand, Aug. 19, 2008 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- College Rifles Rugby Club has selected FieldTurf Tarkett, in partnership with Wilkinson Civil Ltd., for the resurfacing of their 2 rugby fields. The contract was awarded to Wilkinson Civil Ltd. and the worldwide leader in sports surfacing. An important part in the decision making process was the technical benefits of the Prestige XM product. In addition to being used primarily for Rugby, the fields will be available for summer soccer, lacrosse, and for local school groups to use.
"We chose FieldTurf Tarkett for the resurfacing of our 2 fields because they are the leaders in the industry," said College Rifles General Manager Derek Rope. "The product's obvious technical benefits along with the professionalism of the company outweighed any other options we saw on the market. These fields will provide us with grass-like performance and aesthetics of the highest quality. We are excited to provide our players with year round use of these fields and look forward to a long standing relationship with FieldTurf Tarkett."
"FieldTurf Tarkett is honoured to be able to work with the College Rifles Rugby Club as our product will meet the level of excellence that they are accustomed to," said FieldTurf Tarkett CEO Joe Fields. "Our industry-best polyethylene monofilament turf fibers will be able to withstand the constant use and the turf system will be able to accommodate year round play while providing an extremely safe and durable surface. With high profile installations around the globe, we know how our turf performs and we are positive that the College Rifles Rugby Club will benefit tremendously from it."
The FieldTurf Tarkett synthetic turf surfaces that will be installed at the Auckland rugby club later this year will revolutionize outdoor sporting surfaces in New Zealand, many of which have natural grass playing surfaces that do not hold up very well during the winter. FieldTurf Tarkett is very familiar with providing state-of-the-art synthetic grass for high-profile New Zealand clubs as it installed the FieldTurf product at the indoor training facility of the New Zealand All-Blacks in 1999.
All of Auckland's 20 rugby clubs have supported College Rifles' initiative and will play on the new FieldTurf Tarkett surface. The turf is seen as another step to modernize rugby in New Zealand without taking tradition away from the game.
The College Rifles Rugby Union Football Club was founded in 1897. For over 100 years College Rifles has fostered local sporting activities and have provided its broad based community with an excellent club environment. College Rifles is proud of the fact that it is a community based club, with a large and diverse membership of all ages, based in the Eastern Bays of Auckland.
FieldTurf Tarkett is the largest entity in the sports surfacing industry and provides unparalleled leasing capabilities, engineering and manufacturing resources. In addition to its world-renowned FieldTurf and Prestige brands of artificial turf, FieldTurf Tarkett provides an equally impressive range of sports flooring products that includes synthetic and hardwood basketball, volleyball and gymnasium flooring, squash and racquetball courts, floor protection and covering systems, and weight room flooring. Also in the range of FieldTurf Tarkett products are indoor and outdoor running tracks including the high performance Le Monde track system, the Resisport track system, the Beynon track surfaces, playground surfacing, commercial and residential landscaping, and a complete range of tennis and golf surfaces. For more information, visit www.fieldturftarkett.com.