Frocester Engineering are the global brand’s preferred steel fabricators
Helping Rhino Rugby to Stay Ahead
Since 2003 Frocester Engineering has helped ensure the world’s rugby players are at the top of their game by designing and manufacturing high quality scrum training equipment for leading rugby brand, Rhino Rugby.
Continuous innovation by Frocester Engineering in design and fabrication, have helped keep Rhino Rugby at the forefront of technical rugby training equipment supply, earning Frocester the status of preferred steel fabricators and approved service engineers for this global brand.
Reg Clark, Chief Executive, Rhino Rugby: “The high quality of workmanship and sound engineering knowledge possessed by Frocester Engineering is exactly what we need to help us continue dominating the rugby scrum machine market. That’s why we appointed Frocester Engineering as our preferred steel fabricator.”
To date, Frocester Engineering has delivered over a thousand scrum machines and fabricated items of training equipment to Rhino for its global customers which include England Rugby, the WRU, France, South Africa and the British and Irish Lions.
Anthony Locke Managing Director of Frocester Engineering said: “We‘re very proud to design, manufacture and supply state of the art training equipment to Rhino Rugby. Reg is a great pioneer in this field and we feel privileged to be a part of the journey he is taking the brand on.”
2011 – Collision King Wins Award
The Collision King has been designed and developed to assist coaches in one of the most vital aspects of the modern game – the breakdown or ‘collision’, helping players to develop correct technique.
Most leading coaches and commentators believe that major rugby tournaments will be won and lost at the breakdown or ‘collision’ – the winning sides will be those that are able to bring top quality technique and practiced aggression to this aspect of the game. The Collision King is a simple, yet highly effective machine, which enables players to practice correct body position and technique in this most important phase of play.
The product was originally created by legendary breakdown coach Richie Grey. He brought it to Rhino in order to maximise its sales potential and then Frocester helped refine the design to incorporate high quality materials and maximise production efficiency ensuring customers receive a long lasting piece of equipment at a good price.
Heralded as one of the biggest breakthroughs in rugby training equipment, the Collision King won the Technical Innovation award at the 2011 Rugby Expo in London. This vital piece of training equipment is now used successfully by some of the biggest Rugby clubs and national teams around the world.
2016 – F1 Scrum
In a world-first, Frocester Engineering provided the engineering support to Rhino as they teamed with Red Bull Racing and Bath Rugby to make a very special piece of moving imagery.
Filmed at Bath Rugby’s Farleigh House headquarters, F1 Scrum pitches a Formula 1 car against a rugby pack using a modified Rhino Dictator scrum machine as the interface between the two. Resulting in a competition, the likes of which have never been seen before.
Frocester’s engineers worked closely with Red Bull Racing engineers to design and make the modifications to enable this experiment of man vs. machine to take place.
Red Bull Relations Manager, Marcus Prosser said: “Frocester and Rhino were an integral part of the team that delivered this very special piece of film and we really couldn’t have done it without them”.
Frocester Engineering, Managing Director, Anthony Locke said: “It was a real privilege to work with Red Bull on this project and to be associated with such a great piece of film. The Bath guys are used to pitching their strength and technique against the Dictator but not when it’s being powered back against them by an F1 car driven by Daniel Ricciardo! Brilliant stuff and we very much look forward to working with Rhino and Red Bull on future projects.”
Watch F1 Scrum now:
2018 – Rhino Pro Scrum launches
The result of more than five years of collaborative design, testing and prototypes by the Frocester Engineering team and Rhino, the Rhino Pro Scrum, reinforced Rhino’s position as the number one for rugby scrum machines.
The machine design was led by long-term collaborator, the former Scotland and Springboks contact and collisions skills coach, Richie Gray.
The innovative circular base encourages straight and balanced scrummaging, whilst reducing the impact on the pitch making it suitable for artificial and hybrid surfaces.
South Africa, Sharks and Montpellier Herault prop Jannie du Plessis said: “The Rhino Pro Scrum moves completely differently to any other sled that I have used throughout my career due to the unique circular base that the machine is built on. This change in design makes it even more important that as an eight you are working in unison or you will not control the machine. Seeing that it moves differently enables a pack of forwards to work on many things that were previously not possible.”
Frocester Engineering, Managing Director, Anthony Locke, said: “The Pro Scrum is the latest in a long line of cutting edge designs that we are proud to be associated with. Our team relish the challenge of working with creative ideas and new technology and can help inventors like Richie turn their concepts into reality.”
About Rhino
The world’s leading rugby specialists supplying just about everything players and coaches need for the game
Since 1980 Rhino has gone from being a small UK based pioneering manufacturer of scrummaging machines into one of the world’s leading rugby and team sports brands.
Alongside world leading scrum machines, contact and breakdown equipment, Rhino now offers ball, team kit as well as performance focused sportswear for adults and juniors and casual wear.
Visit the Rhino Rugby Direct website to find out more.
The high quality of workmanship and sound engineering knowledge possessed by Frocester Engineering is exactly what we need to help us continue dominating the rugby scrum machine market. That’s why we appointed Frocester Engineering as our preferred steel fabricator.