Blood & Mud

When rugby shirts went bad

 In years gone by, you knew where you were with rugby shirts.  They were in block colours and had not changed since public schoolboys took time out of desperately trying not to engage in sexual activity with each other and created the game of rugby instead.  

It was so simple back then.  England wore white, Wales red, Ireland green, Scotland navy and France royal blue; all of them had a badge on, a white collar and that was that.   It was also very rare that you would know who the manufacturer was as there was no logo, and anyone looking to the label for enlightenment would be led to believe that all shirts were made by a company called: "Large, Wash Colours Separately"

However, at some point in the early to mid-1990s this all changed.  The spectre of professionalism was looming large, and most unions and sports clothing manufacturers were sensing money to be made from the punters and so shirts began to change - and not for the better - as the marketing men moved in.  We have actually managed to get hold of the meeting minutes from each manufacturer at that period and here is a typical example after the jump.

Wales Kit Meet, 1992.

Mike Kristiansen outlined the proposal that we need to make kits more appealing and modern to consumers in order to boost revenue for both ourselves and the WRU.  This will need to identify with the potential consumer, capturing their imagination so that they not only wear the shirt of their nation with pride, but become stakeholders in the our brand, the lifestyle and the ethos of being winners. MK then opened the floor to the creative team.

Ethan Brownstick said, "Shall we just add some ugly stipes and shit to the arms?"

All agreed, meeting closed.

Thus it was that rugby kits were changed forever.  Only to return to something like the beauty of the basic kits some years later when some crap-haired and trendy spectacled marketing monkey went down the 'classic/retro' route.   

England's classic white was replaced by this monstrosity in the 1991 World Cup, closely followed by this minger, this disgrace and so on it went until this hate crime in 2007. 

Wales went for this green-collared, hoopy-sleeved nightmare, before realising the error of their ways and returning to some semblance of normality by the 2000s

Scotland somehow ended up having purple stripes in their shirt, before succumbing to a level of shirt-detail nonsense normally associated with Stade Francais.

France went all tricolour-striped on us, while Ireland thankfully resisted putting any gold or other daftness on their shirts for longer than anyone, but then caved and added white arm trims and side panels in the early 2000s.

Professionalism has brought many things that are good for the game;  Ooerly-fussy shirts made from fabrics with made up names like 'dri-fit' and 'pro-armour', that roughly translate as 'a bit like a pair of tights, only manly and that' are not one one them.  Especially seeing as some of them now retail and upwards of £90.  NINETY QUID!!

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Comments

When rugby shirts went bad

 In years gone by, you knew where you were with rugby shirts.  They were in block colours and had not changed since public schoolboys took time out of desperately trying not to engage in sexual activity with each other and created the game of rugby instead.  

It was so simple back then.  England wore white, Wales red, Ireland green, Scotland navy and France royal blue; all of them had a badge on, a white collar and that was that.   It was also very rare that you would know who the manufacturer was as there was no logo, and anyone looking to the label for enlightenment would be led to believe that all shirts were made by a company called: "Large, Wash Colours Separately"

However, at some point in the early to mid-1990s this all changed.  The spectre of professionalism was looming large, and most unions and sports clothing manufacturers were sensing money to be made from the punters and so shirts began to change - and not for the better - as the marketing men moved in.  We have actually managed to get hold of the meeting minutes from each manufacturer at that period and here is a typical example after the jump.