First official Springbok store opens in South Africa’s richest shopping mall

SA Rugby has opened an official Springbok retail store in the country’s richest mall, Sandton City, alongside the launch of an online shop.

According to the group, the physical store is just the first to open, and further store openings are planned elsewhere in the country.

The store will feature the official Nike replica teamwear as well as a new range of off-field supporters’ clothing.

The group said the opening marks the successful completion of a goal set by SARU’s Executive Council at the start of 2024 to answer South Africa’s hunger for the Springbok brand.

President of the SA Rugby Union, Mark Alexander, said that the store has been a long time coming, given that “we have not had such an offering before now.”

“Before today, if you’d asked the question ‘where is the Springbok shop?’ you’d have been met by blank faces,” he said.

Alexander said that the store follows the tradition around the world of famous sports teams having club shops.

“If you’re in the Champs Élysées in Paris, you can visit the Paris St Germain club shop; if you’re passing through Munich airport, you can visit the Bayern Munich club shop, and if you’re in the Old Trafford area of Manchester, you can visit United’s megastore,” he said.

“But if a visitor to South Africa wants to take home with him or her a memento of one of Africa’s most famous sports teams, where was the Springboks store? Now we have an answer.”

The new store’s offering is also available online for fans both in South Africa and overseas and can be found at www.springbokretail.com.

Rian Oberholzer, SA Rugby CEO, noted that there has also been an “explosion” of counterfeiters and imitators since 2019, which has flooded e-commerce channels with fake products.

“The Exco recognised there was a gap in the market that others were exploiting and that there was an opportunity and a need for SA Rugby to meet that demand and retain the value for the benefit of rugby,” he said.

“The intention is that this store will be followed by others in due course with a range of clothing that will allow rugby fans to show their support for the Springboks in many different items of clothing.”

The store is located at Protea Court in Sandton City and can be most easily reached from the Rivonia Road entrance.