Ahead of England’s face off against Wales in the rugby this Saturday in their third Six Nations match, SEA LIFE Manchester is excited to announce they will be renaming seven of their resident sharks after England players from local Premiership side, Sale Sharks… I mean, sure?
Tom Curry, Ben Curry, Johnny Hill, George Ford, Bevan Rodd, Manu Tuilagi and Raffi Quirke have all been honoured by the family attraction, with the sharks all taking their rugby counterparts last name, apart from the Curry brothers, for obvious reasons.
England kicked off their Six Nations campaign in disappointing fashion with a defeat to old foes Scotland in their opening game. However, things improved in the nation’s second outing as England picked up a victory against Italy, winning 31-14.
To celebrate their naming ceremony and for added enrichment, SEA LIFE has put the sea creatures’ namesakes to the test and added a Sale Sharks rugby ball into the habitat, so the sharks can practice their rugby skills and enhance their mental development too. The Sharks (the rugby kind) better get back to training soon, or they’ll have some serious competition.
Jenn McDonough, General Manager at SEA LIFE Manchester, said: “Here at SEA LIFE, we are immensely proud to support our local sports stars as they represent our country on the national stage.
“We are delighted to be renaming our sharks in honour of England’s Sale Sharks players and we’re thrilled the team at Sale Sharks were more than happy to get involved – hopefully we’ll be able to invite some of the players down to meet their underwater selves soon!
“Our sea creatures regularly take part in enrichment activities, such as ball play, so it’s been great to see our own SEA LIFE Sale Sharks have a kick (fin) about with the rugby ball.”
Claire Butters, Sales & Marketing Director for Sale Sharks said: “We were really excited to hear SEA LIFE Manchester were looking to name some of their creatures after our players. Everyone in the squad works hard every day and we’re extremely proud to have a number of internationals within the team.
“We’ll definitely organise a time for the players to visit their marine counterparts, who knows, maybe one will be brave enough to join them in the water!”
Honestly, there’s not much more we can say about this… so do enjoy if you pop along to see the boys!