Smit and Habana Land Sweet Deal

The best way to get behind the wheel of a new Land Rover without having to re-mortgage your house?

Simple: become a rugby player – a bastion for one of South Africa’s most loved sports.

Well, at least that’s what I think, after learning that two of our beloved ‘bokke – Bryan Habana and head of the herd, Captain John Smit, have been made Land Rover’s brand ambassadors for the Rugby World Cup 2011.

It’s time for this car-crazy hack to swap the pen for a ball, and hope for a miracle.

According to a press release, the duo was chosen to represent Land Rover, in support of their partnership with the Rugby World Cup.

“Our strategy is to be able to align with international rugby well beyond this year’s Rugby World Cup and our decision to partner with our South African rugby heroes forms part of a long term local plan,” said Kevin Flynn, Managing Director of Land Rover South Africa.

Habana and Smit seemed pretty happy to be mascots of the marque too.

“Land Rover is a brand that I have resonated with for many years already – their style, their reputation, their products and brand lifestyle are all qualities I look for in a partnership and try to identify myself by,” said John Smit.

“Land Rover is a brand that I am already a big fan of – their products, customer service, innovative thinking, marketing activities and brand ethos resonate with me both personally and professionally, ” Habana said rather similarly. But let’s remember that our boys were chosen for the team on the merits of their ability to “skop gat” – not wax eloquent.

Habana also said that he was “already investigating Land Rover as a possible purchase” prior to these partnership negotiations.

The public – that means you – have the opportunity to score big too.

Check out Land Rover’s website here (www.landrover.co.za), for details on how you could get the chance to be VIP guests of Land Rover at the Rugby World Cup 2011 in New Zealand.

Brenwin Naidu