CANTERBURY RUGBY BOOT RANGE: CRAFTED FOR UNIQUE PLAY

Take an inside look at the research, design, and craftsmanship that goes into making the unique Canterbury rugby boots.

As with anything Canterbury creates, they start with insights from their vast connections with players from around the world, ensuring they stay at the forefront of design and answer consumers’ problems.

At Canterbury HQ, they took a decision to completely re-engineer and re-build their rugby boot range to ensure they provide greater performance and value to the player, no matter the level they play at. Product Manager, Ryan Grange, tells us exactly how it was done.

In a process that took over 18 months, we embarked on a journey with the aim of delivering a rugby boot range which players had not seen from the brand before – crafted, considered and innovation driven.

“In order to reach our goal, we sought out experts within the field of footwear creation. Fit is seen by many as the key requirement of any piece of footwear. The Last (the form that is responsible for the shape of the shoe) is vital in ensuring comfort, performance and all-important fit. We worked with one of the few remaining handcrafting experts in UK, Springline Last Makers to re-build our range, starting with the methodical process of hand carving wooden blocks into the beginnings of our performance lasts.

“Once the lasts had been handcrafted and perfected, we used 3D scanning technology to ensure that every millimetre of care that had gone into their creation would not be lost. At this stage we built our new SpeedLast1.0, our wider fitting PowerLast1.0 as well as a new junior fit.

“We then shifted from craft into innovation. 3D modelling and 3D rapid prototyping technology allowed us to digitally build and prototype designs and constructions quickly and accurately, ensuring we could deliver every millimetre of performance. Our technicians built our outsole plates to align perfectly with our newly developed Lasts, working with biomechanical experts to provide durable performance, wear after wear.

Across all our boots, the perfect level of heel raise has been designed to place you in biomechanically better positioning, helping to reduce the stress on your lower leg and assist you in delivering your performance every game. We also built in varying zones of support and flex to ensure our outsole plates work directly with your natural motion and deliver unrivalled performance and traction no matter what the surface.

“Once our design and development team were happy with the prototypes, we then began the process of testing on the field of play. Everything Canterbury produces endures hours and hours of wearer trialling and match play testing to help us refine our products further.

We cycled through multiple upper constructions and materials before we found the perfect combinations for long lasting performance and durability. From premium full grain leather found on the Phoenix Elite 2.0 to lightweight mesh found on the Speed Elite 2.0, we left no stone unturned in our quest for performance.

After we had perfected performance on the pitch, we took all upper materials and finished the boots through a rigorous and extensive laboratory testing programme. At Canterbury we pride ourselves on the durability and quality of all our products and our rugby boots are no exception.

The new AW17 Canterbury boot collection promises to deliver quality and performance that is expected from a brand with over 110 years’ worth of heritage in rugby. Through the combination of handcrafting and digital innovation, every tool was utilized to bring the collection to life.

Crafted for unique play.

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