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Top 5 international rugby kits
All rugby fans know that looking good on the pitch doesn’t win any trophies. Having said that, a great kit can make teams a quick fan favourite or even iconic.
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The best kits resemble something greater than the game and can transport fans back to a specific match or memory.
To celebrate the best kits the game of rugby has produced, this list will highlight the top five international shirts. Some are full of flare, others are timeless classics – either way the kits in this list show it’s possible to look good even with your head in a scrum.
1. Japan 2019:
Sometimes rugby can transcend tries, tackles and lineouts.
The home kit from Japan during their own Rugby World Cup in 2019 is a prime example of this.
The tournament marked a defining moment in the history of rugby as its greatest competition reached Asian shores for the first time, making this kit hugely significant before Japan had even played in it.
It also helps that country had an outstanding tournament in this kit, wearing it during their unforgettable victory over Scotland just days after a typhoon had hit the country.
Then you have the shirt itself. Japan as a country has always been synonymous with outstanding beauty, and this shirt is a perfect representation of this. The unique approach to horizontal stripes gives it a classic look which pays homage to the Land of the Rising Sun’s heritage.
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Another feature of the jersey which puts it easily into the top five is the gold accents. Gold can sometimes be overused on kits (See Ospreys home top from the 09/10 season) and has the potential to ruin an otherwise great shirt. In this case however, the gold is used perfectly – the thin lines under each stripe make the shirt even more timeless.
2. New Zealand 2015:
The All Blacks, with a completely black kit – what’s not to love? A fully black New Zealand shirt is nothing out of the ordinary for rugby fans, but this kit went one step further by also darkening the numbers and logos. This allowed the already brilliant colours of Kiwi rugby to create a shirt that was truly brilliant.
While it may not have the artistic touches of Japan’s kit in 2019, this All Blacks number is more representative of the respect given to New Zealand at the time and was the perfect shirt to wear when the Kiwi’s won their second world cup in a row.
3. Lions 1997:
1997 is perhaps the defining tour in the British & Irish Lions‘ rich history and it is fitting that the kit from that year was the best Lions kit ever produced.
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The simplicity of the Lion’s traditional red and white has always been appealing but 1997 marked the first year Adidas had the rights to the shirt, and with that came the iconic three stripes on the sleeves. The simple white sponsor logo also fits well onto the shirt and doesn’t detract from the classic look.
The shirt also boasted a prominent white colour which had the added detail of a lion on the right hand side – a small touch which only added to the greatness of the kit.
4. Australia 2017:
In recent seasons it has become extremely popular for kits, in any sport, to adopt a classic look or try and replicate an historical design. Australia attempted this in 2017 and got it spot on.
Firstly, they have kept true to their iconic gold and green, which always looks powerful on the pitch. However, what makes this kit one of the best ever is the pattern across the sleeves and bottom of the shirt which is a nod to the country’s indigenous heritage.
Not only does the shirt look incredible, it is an important tribute to the nation’s history and culture. The design became so popular with fans and players that the AFU bought an adaptation of the kit back for the alternate shirt in 2019 – a truly beautiful and significant kit.
5. Barbarians:
Despite being one of the most iconic and well loved teams in the game, the Barbarians are often forgotten about when discussing the best kits of all time. Not in this list.
The black and white stripes have always been an extremely effective combo and a large number of Ba-Bas kits could have featured in this list. The one we have chosen reflects the traditional thick hoops of a Barbarians kit and also has a collar, which always looks good on a rugby kit.
Ba-Bas jerseys have the added bonus of only being worn by players who have been invited to play for the team, making them a badge of honour as much as a kit.
Comments on RugbyPass
Dagg is still trying to get enough headlines to make himself relevant enough to get a job. The Crusaders went back to square one at all levels. Shelve this season and nail the next one.
4 Go to commentsHe was in such great form. Sad for him but only a short term injury and it will be great to see him back for the finals.
1 Go to commentsAfter their 5/0 start, I had the Crusaders to finish Top 4 only…they lost the plot in Perth but will reload and back themselves vs 4th placed Rebels…
3 Go to commentsBoth nations missed a great opportunity to book a game that would have had a lot of interest from around the world. I understand these games can’t be organised in 5 minutes but they should have found a way to make it happen. I don’t think Wales are ducking anyone but it’s a bad look haha.
3 Go to commentsIt will be fascinating to see the effect that Jo Yapp has. If they can compete with Canada and give BFs a run for their money that will be progress
1 Go to commentsFollowing his dream and putting in the work. Go well young fella!
3 Go to commentsPerhaps filling Twickenham is one of Mitchell’s KPIs. I doubt whether both September matches will be at Twickenham on consecutive weekends. I would take the BF one to a large provincial stadium so as not to give them the advantage and experience of playing at Twickenham before a large crowd prior to the RWC.
3 Go to commentsvery unfortunate for Kitshoff, but big opportunity potentially for Nché to prove he is genuinely the best loosehead in the world, rather than just a specialist finisher. Presuming that if Kitshoff is out, it will also give Steenekamp a chance to come into the 23? Or are others likely to be ahead of him?
1 Go to commentsA long held question in popular culture asks if art imitates life or does the latter influence the former? Over this 6 nations I can ask the same question of the media influencing the thoughts of its audience or vice versa. Nobody wants to see cricket scores in rugby, as a spectacle it is not sustainable. With so many articles about England’s procession and lack of competition it feeds the epicaricacy of many looking for an opportunity to pounce. England are not the first team to dominate nor does it happen only in rugby, think Federer, Nadal, Red Bull or Mercedes, Manchester Utd, Australia in tests and World Cups. Instead of celebrating the achievements why find reasons to falsify it pointing towards larger playing pool, professional for a longer period or mitigate with the lack of growth in other nations. Can we not enjoy it while it is here and know that it won’t last for ever, others coveting what England have will soon take the crown, ask the aforementioned?
6 Go to commentsShame he won’t turn out for the Netherlands now they’re improving. U20s are Euro champs and in the U20 Trophy this year. The senior sides gets better every year too.
3 Go to commentsWill rugbypass tv be showing these games?
1 Go to commentsWell where do you start, the fact that England have a professional domestic league and Ireland’s is fully amatuer, that they have fully seperated professional squads at Fifteens and Sevens (7’s thinly disguised as GB), and Ireland have fully pro Sevens squad who loan some players back to the Semi-Professional Fifteens squad (moved from amateur for only a year or so) for a few games at 6N & RWC’s. The Women’s games is a shambles, and is at risk of killing itself by pushing for professionalism when the market isn’t really there to support it outside one or two countnries..
6 Go to commentsWayne Smith's input didn't have as much impact on the last final as Davison's red card for Thompson. England were 14 points up and flying when that happened.
6 Go to commentsBilly's been playing consistently well for 2 - 3 seasons now and deserves a look in at the top level. Ioane and ALB are still first choice but there needs to be injury cover and succession. His partnership with Jordie gives him first dibs you'd think. Go the Hurricanes.
3 Go to commentsIt’s not up to Wales to support Georgian Rugby. That’s up to International Rugby and Georgia. I sympathise with Georgia’s decent attempt to create this fixture. But for Wales the proposed match up is just a potential stick to beat them with and a potential big psychological blow that young Welsh team doesn’t need. (I’m Irish BTW.)
3 Go to commentsCale certainly looks great in space, but as you say, he has struggled in contact. At 23 years old, turning 24 this year, he should be close to full physical maturity and yet there exists a considerable gap in the power and physicality required for international rugby. Weight doesn’t automatically equate to power and physicality either. Can he go from a player who’s being physically dominated in Super rugby to physically dominating in international rugby in 1 or 2 years? That’s a big ask but he may end up being a late bloomer.
36 Go to commentsIf rugby wants to remain interesting in the AI era then it will need to work on changing the rules. AI will reduce the tactical advantage of smart game plans, will neutralize primary attacking weapons, and will move rugby from a being a game of inches to a game of millimetres. It will be about sheer athleticism and technique,about avoiding mistakes, and about referees. Many fans will find that boring. The answer is to add creative degrees of freedom to the game. The 50-22 is an example. But we can have fun inventing others, like the right to add more players for X minutes per game, or the equivalent of the 2-point conversion in American football, the ability to call a 12-player scrum, etc. Not saying these are great ideas, but making the point that the more of these alternatives you allow, the less AI will be able to lock down high-probability strategies. This is not because AI does not have the compute power, but because it has more choices and has less data, or less-specific data. That will take time and debate, but big, positive and immediate impact could be in the area of ref/TMO assistance. The technology is easily good enough today to detect forward passes, not-straight lineouts, offside at breakdown/scrum/lineout, obstruction, early/late tackles, and a lot of other things. WR should be ultra aggressive in doing this, as it will really help in an area in which the game is really struggling. In the long run there needs to be substantial creativity applied to the rules. Without that AI (along with all of the pro innovations) will turn rugby into a bash fest.
24 Go to commentsSouth Africa rarely play Ireland and France on these tours. Mostly, England, Scotland and Wales. I wonder why
2 Go to commentsIt was a let’s-see-what-you're-made-of type of a game. The Bulls do look good when the opposition allows them to, but Munster shut them down, and they could not find a way through. Jake should be very worried about their chances in the competition.
2 Go to commentsHats off to Fabian for a very impressive journey to date. Is it as ‘uniquely unlikely’ as Rugby Pass suggests, given Anton Segner’s journey at the Blues?
3 Go to comments