The Waikato young gun solving one of rugby players’ ‘obvious problems’

Many within the rugby fraternity will already know Tom Martin as a back-rower who cracked the Waikato NPC team in their 2021 premiership-winning season, having earlier gained selection for New Zealand Secondary Schools.

Pocket-sized Vitool provides essential tools to address various challenges players may encounter before, during, and after training or playing. It features three different-sized sprig tighteners, a safety blade for cutting strapping tape, a flick-out sprig hole cleaner, a tap key, an ice breaker, a bottle opener, and a spring clip.

An early prototype was shortlisted for the 2022 New Zealand Best Design Awards.

Fast-forward two years, hours of trial and error, and $20,000 of personal investment, and Vitool has now made it to market.

Already in the hands of All Blacks, Black Ferns, and hundreds of players in New Zealand and abroad, Vitool is available for purchase online at Martin’s website, shardstudios.co.nz.

Shortly it will also be available through rugby equipment giant Powa, which was acquired by UK rugby equipment powerhouse Rhino in 2012.

Martin explained to RugbyPass how Vitool was born at Victoria University (Wellington) in 2022.

“I had an assignment in my industrial design class where the brief was to create something that resolved a common problem,” he said.

“I always tried to combine my passions with my assignments. Vitool was an attempt to fix all the problems I had playing for Marist St Pats like a sprig falling from my boot and nobody being able to find the pliers in time. All players have these problems, basic stuff; important stuff.”

In July 2022, while cleaning out a ruck in a club game, Martin ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL), medial collateral ligament (MCL) and tore his meniscus.

“My left knee looked like a car crash on the inside and I knew I’d be on the sideline for a long time. That’s when I decided to go all in with Vitool.”

Martin was always destined to be involved in rugby. His father, Paul Martin, played 69 games (46 wins) for Waikato from 1993-2000 and represented the Chiefs 19 times before a stint playing in France.

The Hamilton Marist Club is the Martin’s stomping ground and design flows through their veins.

Paul’s design company, Riverstone Design, also connects his love of rugby with creativity. Waikato and Northland Rugby Centenary books were designed by Paul, along with a lot of rugby sponsor-related content.

A natural leader, Tom was head prefect at Hamilton Boys’ High School in 2018. He helped his First XV win a Super 8 title and made a National Top Four appearance that season, playing alongside several current professionals, including All Blacks Josh Lord and Cortez Ratima.

New Zealand Secondary Schools’ selection helped Martin earn a Waikato contract, and he was so highly regarded that he was allowed to study industrial design in Wellington while meeting his training requirements with the Waikato Academy in the capital.

In his first season with Marist St Pats (MSP), Martin won the Mick Horan Memorial Trophy, for showing tenacity and commitment on and off the field. He captained both MSP and the Waikato Under 19s.

Then in 2021, Martin appeared in four NPC matches for Waikato.

And while his playing momentum was derailed by the 2022 knee injury, it proved the catalyst for a Vitool revival.

After experienced and respected Hamilton designer Mike Williams endorsed the idea, Martin decided to go all-in, resourcing and prototyping it.

All Blacks XV prop George Dyer and Black Ferns co-captain Kennedy Tukuafu were among the original guinea pigs, knocking Vitool into shape at the provincial, Super and international levels.

Against all odds, tenacious Tom took to the rugby field for Hamilton Marist again in 2023 after a gruelling year of recovery. A highlight was playing for the premier team with his younger brother Will. Tragically, in July 2023, after just four games back, Martin re-ruptured the ACL graft in the same knee.

But while rehabbing he co-coached the Hamilton Marist Premiers to a perfect 15-0 record as the “Green Machine” captured the Waikato Breweries Trophy.

Meanwhile, Martin solidified his design ambitions by creating a website and company to promote and expand Vitool, doing his own editing, videography and design.

“I’m not retired from playing but it’s important to have other things going on in your life,” he said.

“My goal is to spread Vitool around the world. It’s a multi-faceted, small and convenient tool that resolves obvious problems.”