England can't afford brand snobbery and Umbro deal is a good one - Andy Goode
England fans can’t afford to be brand snobs at the moment and the RFU should be commended for getting the best deal possible with Umbro. Despite only being announced this week, it’s a good job the contract was likely signed a little while ago as you can almost guarantee it would be less lucrative if it was negotiated in the current coronavirus climate.
I suspect the union thought it was revealing a bit of good news amid the gloom, but I got messages on Twitter calling it “an absolute disgrace” and “bargain bin stuff” to cite just a couple of examples. Clearly, social media is going to attract extreme reactions, but there does seem to be a negative perception of Umbro and a lot of people reacted negatively because of its association with football.
You don’t spend almost 30 years as the England football team’s kit provider if you are a second rate brand and prior to that successful period in football, Umbro did actually support each of the home nations in rugby and also the British and Irish Lions when they won in New Zealand in 1971.
So, Umbro does have rugby heritage and it is also an English company based in Cheadle near Manchester, albeit now owned by an American firm. You’d think that would make many England fans happy. Everyone is going to have their own opinion and we will have to reserve judgement on the new England kit until we actually see it, but you can be absolutely certain that the RFU will have done their due diligence on this and not just taken a punt.
Signing personal deals is a bit different to unions or clubs agreeing kit deals, but there are still similarities and I can remember taking a whole year to transition from adidas to Reebok in my playing career. A bigger offer was put on the table but I had to be sure that I was going to be as comfortable and kick as well in Reebok boots as I was in my existing boots, so I spent a season training in the new ones alongside the old ones in order to make sure it was right.
Thoughts on @EnglandRugby and their new kit deal with @UmbroUK?! pic.twitter.com/L1Xhot08Qu
— Andy Goode (@AndyGoode10) May 5, 2020
I also had an even bigger offer from Gilbert but I just couldn’t get on with their boots at all so I didn’t take it. Clearly, an Umbro shirt as opposed to a Canterbury one isn’t going to affect performance in the same way but the RFU will have seen prototypes and done their homework.
Some form of committee involving a few England players will also almost certainly have been involved in the process to make sure they were satisfied with the standard of playing jerseys and training kit. A picture of Sam Underhill and Tom Curry wearing an Umbro-branded England top was leaked, prompting a flurry of abuse online, but that was almost certainly just training gear and not something to get hot under the collar over.
There are a plethora of kit suppliers involved in rugby nowadays and, as a union or a club, you have to put the contract out to tender and go with the best deal on the table. People tend not to like change but switching kit companies is commonplace. I wore everything from Cotton Traders to Kappa during my career and plenty of people had negative perceptions of some of those brands, but it obviously won’t bother the players one bit or have any bearing on how successful they are on the pitch.
Off the pitch, though, it could have a small impact on how successful the RFU is in the coming four years. Obviously, if kit sales end up being down, they will take a hit but it looks like a very good deal on the face of it. England’s previous deal with Canterbury was said to be worth £5million per year, the same as this contract is reported to be worth, but changing supplier isn’t something teams do just for the sake of it, so it was the most financially viable offer on the table this time around.
The RFU have already said that losses could surpass £100m depending on how the current situation around coronavirus pans out and when rugby returns, so these are vital funds for the grassroots game as well as the England senior team. They can’t win really because people are always saying how the RFU and rugby in general are slow to innovate or change and then when this happens people are up in arms because it’s not traditional and it’s just not rugby.
It will be interesting to see what the new England shirt looks like when it is unveiled, although I suspect white and not too dissimilar to previous ones will be the answer. If I was on the players’ committee, though, I’d definitely be lobbying for a return to a baggier fit with long sleeves and a collar!
Joking aside, where rugby is right now and indeed where the world is right now, £5 million per year for a kit deal is not to be sniffed at. People will have to put their preconceptions to one side.
Comments on RugbyPass
I’m guessing Carl Hayman would have preferred to have stayed in NZ with benefit of hindsight. Up north there is the expectation to play twice as many games with far less ‘player management’ protocols that Paul is now criticising. Less playing through concussions means longer, healthier, careers. Carter used as the eg here by Paul, his sabbatical allowed him to play until age 37. OK its not an exact science but there is far more expectations on players who sign for Top 14 or Engl Prem clubs to get value for the huge salaries. NZR get alot wrong but keeping their best players in NZ rugby is not one of them. SA clubs are virtually devoid of their top players now, no thanks. They cant threaten the big teams in the Champions Cup, the squads have little depth. Cant see Canes/Chiefs struggling. Super has been great this year, fantastic high skill matches. Drua a fantastic addition and Jaguares will add another quality team eventually. Aus teams performing strongly and no doubt will benefit with the incentive of a Lions tour and a home RWC. Let Jordie enjoy his time with Leinster, it will allow the opportunity for another player to emerge at Canes in his absence.
4 Go to commentsLove that man, his way to despise angry little men is so funny ! 😂
4 Go to comments“South African franchises would be powerhouses if we had all our overseas based players back in situ. We would have the same unbeatable aura the Toulouses, Leinsters or Saracens of this world have had over the last decade or so.” Proof that Jake white does not understand the economics of the game in SA. Players earning abroad are not going to simply come back and represent the bulls. But they might if they have a springbok contract.
22 Go to commentsA lot of fans just joined in for the fun of it! We all admire O'Gara and what he has done for La Rochelle
4 Go to commentsThe RFU will find a way to mess this up as usual. My bet is there will be no promotion into the the Premiership, only relegation into National League One. Hopefully they won’t parachute failed clubs into the league at the expense of clubs who have battled for promotion.
6 Go to commentsWell that’s the contracts for RG and Jordie bought and paid for. Now, what are the chances we can persuade Antoine to hop over with all the extra dosh we’ll have from living at the Aviva & Croke next season…??? 🤑🤑🤑
8 Go to commentsWow, that’s incredible. Great for rugby.
8 Go to commentsYou probably read that parling is going to coach the wallaby lineout but if not before now you have.
14 Go to commentsIf someone like Leo Cullen was in O’Gara’s place I don’t hear Boo-ing. It’s not just that La Rochelle has hurt Leinster and O’Gara is their Irish boss. It’s the needle that he brings and the pantomime activity before the game around pretending that Munster were supporting LaRochelle just because O’Gara is from Cork. That’s dividing Irish provinces just to get an advantage for his French Team. He can F*ck right off with that. BOOOOO! (but not while someone is lying injured)
4 Go to commentsDid the highlanders party too hard before the game? They were the pits.
1 Go to commentsWhat a player! Not long until he’s in the England side, surely?
2 Go to commentsHe seems to have the same aura as Marcus Smith - by which I mean he’s consistently judged as if he’s several years younger than he actually is. Mngomezulu has played 24 times for the Stormers. When Pollard was his age he had played 24 times for South Africa! He has more time to develop, but he has also had time to do some developing already, and he hasn’t demonstrated nearly as much talent in that time as one would expect. If he is a generational talent, then it must be a pretty poor generation.
6 Go to commentsThe greatest Springbok coach of all time is entirely on the money. Rassie and Jacques have given the south african public a great few years, but the success of the springbok selection policy will need to be judged in light of what comes next. The poor condition that the provincial system is currently in doesn’t bode well for the next few years of international rugby, and the insane 2026 schedule that the Boks have lined up could also really harm both provincial and international consistency.
22 Go to commentsJake White is a brilliant coach and a master in the press. This is another masterclass in media relations and PR but its also a very narrow view with arguments that dont always hold water. White wants his team to win, he wants the best players in SA and wants his team competitive. You however have to face up to the reality of a poor exchange rate and big clubs with big budgets. SA Rugby cant compete and unless it can find more money SA players will keep leaving regardless of Springbok eligibility and this happened in 2015 - 2017. Also rugby is not cricket. Cricket has 3 formats and T20 cricket is where the money is at. When it comes to club vs country the IPL is king but that wont happen because the international calendar does not clash with the club calendar in rugby. So the argument about rugby going down the same path as cricket is really a non-starter
22 Go to commentsNZ rugby seem not to have learnt anything from professional rugby. Super rugby was dying and SA left before they died with the competition. SA rugby did a u turn on their approach to international players playing overseas and such players are now selected for Bok teams. As much as each country would love to retain their players playing in local competitions, this is the way the world is evolving my friends. Move with it or stay 20 years behind the times. One more thing. NZ rugby hierarchy think they are the big cheese. Take a more humble approach guys. You do not seem to have your players best interests at heart.
4 Go to commentsBeaches? In Cardiff? Where?
1 Go to commentsHe is right , the Crusaders will be a threat. Scott Barrett, ( particularly), Fergus Burke , Codie Taylor, ( from sabbatical) etc due back soon for the Crusaders. There are others like Zach Gallagher too. People can right the Crusaders off, Top 8 , here we come !!
1 Go to commentsWe will always struggle for money to match the other sides but the least the WRU can do is invest properly in Welsh rugby. Too much has been squandered on vanity projects like the hotel and roof walk amongst others which will never see a massive return. Hanging the 4 pro sides out to dry over the last decade is now coming back to bite the WRU financially as well as on the pitch. You reap what you sow.
1 Go to commentsWhat do you get if you cross a doctor with a fish? A plastic sturgeon
14 Go to commentsWhat happened to feleti Kaitu’u? Hasnt played in a while right?
1 Go to comments