Jamie McFarland: A Passion for Rugby Spanning 20 years and 7,000 Miles

Meet Jamie McFarland: a Northern Ireland native that got hooked on rugby in school and still has a love for the game almost 20 years and over 7,000 miles later. A current resident of Bend, Oregon he is a member of the Bend Rugby club which plays in the Pacific Northwest Rugby Football Union. The league consists of eight different teams from across Oregon, Washington and Idaho. Bend won the PNRFU championship in 2023 and qualified to the Pacific super regionals.

The first rugby tournament of the team’s year is called “The Cascade Classic” which was played at the end of August in Bend, OR. The tournament is open to all teams that wish to register/travel, and typically has about 10 or 11 teams in the Men’s division. The team just kicked off their fall season which entails two practices a week as well as games on the weekends. There is always additional training, practicing, conditioning work that is expected outside of practice. Jamie said that he suffered through a hamstring tear last season as well as consistent calf cramping. As an athlete, he wanted to find a product that would help him recover faster and keep him out on the field longer.

He said that SKINS is his “game day armor”, that it helps him get ready for his games, both physically and mentally. All athletes want to know they’re ready to play their best before they step on the field. With his SKINS, he feels that he is better prepared to be able to play his best in that day’s practice, game or tournament. Jamie acknowledged that before he found SKINS, he knew that there was something missing in his recovery process, no matter how much time he spent stretching or cooling down.

As a follower of professional rugby, he had seen the SKINS logo popping up more frequently as a brand that was trusted and frequently worn by the pro athletes. After researching our compression wear more, he was intrigued to see how popular SKINS is in other parts of the world, specifically in the UK and the rest of Europe.

Jamie’s “favorite and most used SKINS product” is the SERIES-3 Calf Sleeves. In the past, he had tried other companies’ cheaper calf sleeves but he continually was faced with the problem that the fabric was too thick to easily take on and off. Comparing the SKINS calf sleeves to other brands, he said they are “thin and light weight in comparison, but provide plenty of compression and warmth”. Jamie says they are much less bulky than other calf sleeves and they do not absorb too much sweat when being worn. If you want to shop SKINS calf sleeves, check out our offering here.

Stories like Jamie’s are very common; there is a reason why SKINS is called the best product an athlete’s never heard of. Once our customers give our gear a chance, many are hooked for life!