But first to domestic news. Ulster have taken on board Stade Francais' success with a visually arresting supporter's jersey as part of their newly released range, and tried to emulate the Parisian garishness with an equally popping comic book styled attempt:
 |
| 2010-11 Stade Francais European jersey |
Technically a supporters jersey for 2011-12 it takes its inspiration from the Marvel comic series, the jersey apparently "depicts the Ulster team on a mission". All logos are printed into the design during manufacture, except the embroidered Ulster logo and "The Ulstermen" logo on the collar.
Next up are Leinster, who have already unveiled their new design, complete with a pair of stars above the crest to signify their two Heineken Cup wins:
 |
| Home and alternate jerseys look well, but will the 3rd? |
 |
| Could this be Leinster's 3rd European jersey? |
As an aside, South Africa's RWC jersey is very interesting from a political standpoint:
For quite some time now the Protea has been the national emblem of South Africa. This is the reason why the Springbok was moved from the left to the right chest - to accommodate the Protea emblem. However due to RWC rules, the RWC logo took the place of the Springbok emblem, hence its circled position on the left arm - really pushed this issue to the side...
They're not the only ones doing it, France are trying to ruffle some feathers too with their RWC jerseys:
 |
| France's RWC 1999 jersey |
 |
| France's RWC 2007 jersey |
Before moving onto Ireland's jersey, let's take a quick look at some left field nations. USA have released an almost rising sun-esque third jersey. It is unclear whether it is intended to coincide with the release of this summer's blockbuster, "Captain America". Regardless, its base template is very similar to Leinster's third jersey, although it is unclear under what circumstances USA would actually need to don an actual 3rd jersey in the RWC:
Harlequins have continued their Irishness. First with their acquisition of Conor O'Shea's services, and now with the release of their first jersey in cooperation with Irish jersey designers O'Neills. It's a safe design, in keeping with what's expected, but visually appealing all the same:
 |
| Harlequins 2011-12 alternate jersey |
Puma have released the Irish RWC 2011 jersey. It is receiving mixed reviews, most notably for its odd chest grip design... Apparently this control panel on the front of the home jersey is shaped like the columns of the basalt Giant's Causeway... Let's just hope that volcanic eruption doesn't come into play as much in the Irish players' case.
The dynamic look of the jersey is accentuated by its off centre placket (the button and collar segment), which is a direct reference to an original Ireland shirt image found within IRFU archives. The alternative jersey is very similar, except with a more modern styled collar. Much akin to the previous alternate jersey getting a run out for no reason against South Africa, history will be broken for the second time as Ireland will wear this alternate jersey against France in Bordeaux for the RWC warm up game on August 13th. In a break with tradition, there are training tops that are almost wine in colour, along with the more usual grey affair:
With the unusually warm summer that is beating down upon the Emerald Isle, it would be quite something to be confronted with beer bellied Heino chuggers waddling the streets in the official IRFU beater. To my mind this is the first time red has been used on an Irish jersey, I can only imagine there will be some die-hard Munster supporters who will wear it to an Ireland game, much as some Leinster supporters did with the training top on the right.Speaking of Munster, three new designs are due to be released during a press conference on July 13th. Rumours are rife, with questions such as "Will those two stars be on every Heineken Cup winners' jerseys?" to "Will that stupid embossed stag be on it?". Well placed sources indicate that the antlers are gone from the back of the home jersey. The design is apparently a lot simpler than other years, with white shorts and no yellow piping as before. The adidas stripes are navy instead of white, while the collar and placket are thought to be red. Taking all this into account, it was thought that the home jersey might resemble the following:
 |
| 2009 Lions jersey |
 |
| Mock up |
The alternate jersey is mainly white, with 6 horizontal hoops spaced 10cm apart. Each of these bands are 5mm in height, with a colour for each of the 6 counties of Munster. It remains to be seen whether the 3rd design is merely a training top or if Munster are embarking into 3rd European jersey territory. Munster Rugby however, appear to have mistakenly given us a sneak peek of the new Munster home 2011-13 jersey when they put up this photo earlier on this week:
 |
| New jersey leaked during promo for new Munster Schools Junior Cup? |
If this massively official photo is to be taken at face value (it was quickly taken down from their website), it appears we have a fairly nice looking, modern yet in keeping with the past, Munster home jersey. Gone are the Santa shorts (which actually began to become quite inoffensive), instead we have clean white shorts. It's debatable whether a return to navy shorts would be in keeping with what most supporters seem to want, but the actual jersey itself looks solid. A nice touch is how the adidas three stripes start at the point of the shoulder, then gradually taper to behind the triceps. It has to be said, the navy collar does look great, as does the blended in adidas logo and Munster crest. All in all a nice looking prospect... Regardless, we won't have to wait long to see if they'll go Leinster's way and drag a big swooshing stag from stomach to back!
But remember people, at the end of the day, it's only a piece of fabric:
But remember people, at the end of the day, it's only a piece of fabric:
No comments:
Post a Comment