All Not Rosy with New England Alternate Jersey

The England rugby team will wear an all black rugby jersey when they kick off their Rugby World Cup campaign against Argentina in Dunedin, New Zealand.  Apparently both the shirt and shorts of this alternate jersey, produced by Nike, are black apart from the red rose badge.  This is not the first time England have courted controversey, as the outgoing anthracite alternate jersey also drew parallels to the All Blacks jersey:

Chris Ashton - an Almost Black?

When the above dark grey jersey was released in November 2010, it already was flagged as close to straying into New Zealand territory, so the actual donning of black will have rugby purists crying foul, as it is traditionally a colour worn solely by the Kiwis - even if the phrase "All Blacks" was coined by an English Daily Mail correspondent, J.A. Buttery, in 1905.  Not only that, but England really run the risk of being perceived as ungracious guests.

England vs. Fiji (white) in Sevens

The kit manufacturer Cotton Traders were the first to sell the England kit to the masses, and so besides altering the strip occasionally to maintain sales, they also saw the potential returns that could be made from creating a second strip, even though its use could be limited to as little as one game every couple of decades (i.e.: playing against Fiji at home).  The decision was made that the alternate jersey would be blue, presumably because the team were already wearing blue socks as part of their kit.


A change to red for RWC 2007 got up the Welsh noses, while yet more controversy enshrouded the purple alternative kit launched in November 2009.  Ironically this was one of the more logically reasoned colour choices, as from the 70s through to the 90s players who were selected for England at any level would receive a purple tracksuit.

Part of the controversy is due to the break in tradition.  There is no reason the alternate jersey must be worn, apart from increasing revenue associated with sales of alternate merchandise.  This is why purple England took on Argentina in 2009, why anthracite England took on Australia in 2010, and why black England are taking on Wales at home in a friendly before the start of RWC 2011.

The players apparently have not been consulted, yet no complaints have emanated from the English camp.  Indeed, apparently all this was noted as potentially being a thorn in the side for the Kiwis, so much so that the RFU spoke to their NZRU counterparts, who indicated they have no objection.  The recent relevations of the kit containing ancient Maori symbols and decorations seems to have been a step too far, with New Zealand Prime Minister John Key exclaiming:

I think it's a bunch of wannabes actually, there's only one team that wears black with pride, and that's the All Blacks

Regardless, under RWC rules each team must have an alternate "change" kit, and if England choose to dabble in black magic, so be it.  Just how much of an Almost Black kit it is remains to be seen - it is released on August 1st - but there are rumours that England may elect to wear it throughout the group stages of the RWC.  In such a case, and should both England and New Zealand both progress to the final, the fact that New Zealand technically are at home would set an interesting precedent, as under traditional rules New Zealand would have to change into their alternate kit, with the bizarre result of England being the All Blacks!


All they're missing now is a video congratulating themselves on winning the competition...