Munster Alternate Jersey 2010-2011

Doug Howlett tries hard, but there's no real explanation for this jersey, and how the Munster Branch allowed it to come to fruition.  For God's sake, it even says "Colour: Black/Slime" on the adidas tag!!!

Last season we had the double whammy of the Santa suit (see Donncha on your left) and yellow high-vis vest (see Earls on your right).  I understand that Munster Rugby needs to make a profit in this professional ere, however surely to God there's some sort of quality check along the production line?

Some have suggested that seeing as the alternate jersey switches every season (as opposed to the home jersey, which generally stays the same for two seasons), it represents more of an opportunity to generate fiscal income.  Seeing as Munster lead jersey sales in the UK and Ireland (second are the Ospreys funnily enough), perhaps some thought this would be the perfect vehicle to capture the imagination of some of Munster's newest supporters in Limerick, those who say would also devoutly follow Glasgow Celtic...  Offended?  I challenge you to spot the difference below:

On the left is Celtic's away kit, on the right is Munster's alternate jersey, or wait...  Well you get the idea!  Others have argued that such a luminous slime green will allow better visibility of players in foggy conditions.  Some merit could be attached to this postulation, as Denis Hurley below does indeed stand out:

Leaving Nightwolf aside, there is the curious case of what could have been.  Still many are wondering what was wrong with the old navy alternate jersey, much like the "Missing: Irish white alternate jersey" posters that are being put up by concerned supporters.  Indeed, even a red version of this Slimer (of Ghostbusters fame) jersey has the potential to look semi-decent:

In fact, I'd rather take the combined provinces record 68-0 jersey or the new Munster training jersey over this odd Chelsea-esque adidas abomination...

Irish Alternate Jersey 2010-11 Launched

I laughed when I saw this in a shop window, guffawing to myself as the Leinster boys gamely joked around in their new ladyboy jerseys... It of course came as a great shock to me when I saw the advertisement was that of Ireland's new alternate rugby jersey. Shock and horror, two tactics used to instill fear into the enemy, not sales into the IRFU's pockets!

Giving it the benefit of the doubt, I thought it might look better in the flesh. It doesn't. So why the Hell have Puma and the IRFU teamed up to create this cyan coated catastrophe? While we can only postulate, apparently there is a darker shade of blue known as Saint Patrick's Blue, that was indeed used on Irish flags for a period of time, and to this day is used on the Presidential Standard. The other option would be that they went with a lighter "Dublin" blue, but that couldn't possibly be true, not with three Leinster players promoting the jersey... Although to be fair, it's not a million miles away from Garryowen's either... Or UCD's...

Now all I can guess is that the factory mixed the dye wrong, because I wouldn't make a sheep wear that abomination. And you want to know the funniest thing? As far as I'm aware, it's only when playing against South Africa that Ireland have to wear their alternate jersey. We are indeed playing South Africa on Saturday 6th November 2010, and to mark this historic occasion the Springboks are waiving their right to wear their home jersey, meaning Declan Kidney's men will be in their traditional green for the Lansdowne Road clash.