The South African Rugby Football Union’s Official website has undergone several improvements aimed at simplifying navigation and providing visitors with several new features.

The site has been developed by Sportal SA , a joint venture between JSE-listed sports marketing company SAIL and Sportal UK.

According to Sportal SA managing director Oliver Power the new site will bring rugby fans to the very heart of the sport.

‘What differentiates sarugby.net from it competitors are Sportal’s exclusive internet rights to the Springbok rugby team. On the upcoming tour of Argentina and the UK fans will also, for the first time, be able to get a daily glimpse of what happens off the field of play.’

Power says the increasing competitiveness of the online rugby market encouraged Sportal to rethink their strategy in order to create an unparalleled competitive edge, giving the user a novel and unique experience.

‘Coverage of rugby online is staid and unimaginative . While still placing much emphasis upon comprehensive news coverage, Sportal will use the medium to its optimum ability.’

To this end the improved site provides a host of multimedia features. These include video clips of recent test match highlights and behind the scenes footage of the touring Springboks, as well as a fully interactive, three-dimensional conversion kicking game and various screensavers.

For the duration of the forthcoming tour Sportal will conduct weekly online chat sessions with one of the players, highlighted on 9 November when new coach Harry Viljoen will for the very first time field questions from the public.

Experienced and respected rugby journalist, Sportal’s Andrew Koopman, will travel with the Springboks for the duration of the six-week tour.

Sportal was recently voted the top unlisted e-business in Europe by the Sunday Times / Bathwick Consulting e-league survey.

For Further Information Please Contact:

Anthony Mackaiser
South African Rugby Football Union
Anthony@Sarfu.org.za