ITM Cup
Taranaki adopt Bulls as new name
ESPN Staff
December 10, 2014
The Amber and Black are known now as the Bulls, after club mascot Ferdinand © Getty Images
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ITM Cup champions Taranaki will be known as the Bulls after consulting fans and members via email, social media and an online newspaper poll.

Bulls was chosen from a short list of four names including Roughnecks, Thunder and Titans, with Taranaki Rugby commercial manager Geoff Hitchcock saying it received more than 75% of the vote.

"This is the logical choice with Taranaki Rugby's mascot being Ferdinand the bull, with two versions of Ferdie now in operation," Hitchcock told Fairfax Media in New Zealand. "Also an option was continuing without a team identity but through the voting process there was a clear desire to have a name associated with the team."

Hitchcock acknowledged that nearly half of the respondents in the Taranaki Daily News online poll wanted the team to continue simply as Taranaki without a moniker, saying the newly sponsored Port Taranaki Bulls had "a lot of traditional supporters who want to call them Taranaki and will continue to do so".

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd

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