Rest in peace the real rugby jersey

Dear Rugbyfuture. It was'nt England that first used the Body-hugging jersey. It was Rugby Leagues South Sydney Junnior Bunny's in 1996. The concept of a body-hugging jersey was first made public in 1994 in the Fairfields Champion News Papper. I got the idea from the bike riders wearing thier body suits. Put a Bicycle team on the paddock with footy shorts and boots. Up agaist the old Baggy jerseys that had stayed the same, sacrasant for over 80 years back then, and how has the advantage? It was'nt Nike or any other multi national, It was me! Barry Robinson, a bloke on Disability Pension. That had nothing left to do in life but to chase he's dreams, he's ideas. So in 1994 I started showing my Jersey 2000tm elite Jersey to the A.R.L and A.R.U for thats where the most grabbing and slinging in tackles happen. But it does happen less in soccer and Aussie Rules. I designed J2000 with the player in mind. I'm looking for recogition if you could help, even though it's not your cup of tea, you have to agree that I deserve at least! to be recognised. Regards Baz

Check ebay - you can still buy those old jersey's.

Well, that is the best explanation I've ever heard for the defining feature of the bajada!! :)

Topo is alleged to have told a mate of mine that "Back in Argentina we grip on skin, not jersey. Skin doesn't rip!" Not sure if its true and would be a bloody painful way to scrummage but you'd certainly know if the grips slackened.

I also understand that adidas pays the NZRFU extra not to have any other sponsor on the jersey front (AS IF!!) in keeping with their minimalist-style advertising style

France don't have any sponsors on their jersey. A lot of their club jerseys for sale don't have them either. France and South Africa also went down the cycling top route in 2003.

My problem with the new jerseys ( apart form difficulty trying to grip them in a scrum) is that not all teams can afford them giving rich teams/nations an extra advantage.

I like the fact that American jerseys have no sponsorship on them, so they aren't walking billboards. However, I don't have a problem with the new Wallabies jersey - ultimately having a tighter jersey with no collar is better in terms of being able to evade tackles. And the move away from cotton is overdue - it is a terrible fabric to play sport in as it absorbs moisture and gets really heavy and chafes when wet. It is all very well to bang on about tradition, but it seems somewhat stupid when a demonstrably better design exists.

I like the new jersey, not going to wear one as a former backrower turned frontrower shirts the better left unsaid the better. Love the old Adidas one as well. As to the demise of Canterbury, yes the Aussie guernsey has been a dogs breakfast for a while now but at least Canterbury made brilliant shorts. Definitely the best footy shorts I played in during my years. Kooga sponsor my tens team and don't say anything because we love Marty but the shorts are rubbish.

Not Aussie, despite the misleading article they are British and are pretty well known off these shores so I wouldn't worry...

Sheek is right. It doesn't have to be this way. There is no reason why players can't have tight fitting jerseys with or without collars that subscribe to the age old rugby graphic designs: hoops - mainly hoops - squares and single colour jerseys. There were very good reasons why bright colours and hoops were used on rugby jerseys for 100 or so years before professionalism. Contrast between designs made it easier for players and spectators - including TV viewers - to distinguish one team from another. Does anyone remember that Super 12 final Blues v Brumbies when both teams wore essentially the same strip. What a debacle. So Sheeks idea of style guides for tournaments is a sensible one. let's get it in place for RWC 2011. The demise of the Canterbury company is particularly pleasing. They were responsible for the worst jersey designs of the professional era. They made Super teams indistinguishable from one another - the brown yellow blue Chiefs jersey of the 90's has to be the worst design ever (in any field of design) - and they compromised the national strips of Scotland, South Africa and Australia when they were sponsors. The Wallabies have been playing in an awful mustard, white and blue strip for the last few years. Yuck. I'm pleased to see the back of them. Well done KooGaa. A step in the right direction at last.

As a current player who has taken the field through the full range of regalia from the heavy long sleeved cotton jersey through to the current "cycling top" variety, i can say without reservation that the current style of jersey is far superior to the old school variety as far as playing in them goes. It was a great day when the club i was playing for finally did away with the heavy hot and ill fitting cotton garments. I think the fact that the kit sponsor generally provides a supporter style jersey in cotton should keep most old school rugby zealots at bay, nobody is forced to buy the tight fitting style, and looking at a lot of the old boys in the members bar at most matches, thank god for that! I think that if they bought back the 1980 3 stripe style as a retro version like league and cricket have it would be a roaring success.

Bit of a shame re the manufacturer. Great aussie company but Cougar, sorry KooGa, is such a loaded word these days. the kiwis will have a field day if they ever catch on.

The only real jersey is a winning one. No one would give two hoots about Wales in the Yellow if they wiped all before them, so too the grey horror that the ABs lost to france in. And so too the Qantas Wallabies new jersey. Im sure they'll fly off the shelf should the Qantas Wobblies win the 3N this year.

Bay, It's still not right. We now have bicycle shirts substituting for rugby jerseys. Bicycle shirts are for bicycle riders; rugby jerseys are for rugby players. The manufacturers can still have the super strength fibres, the breathing panels, the anti-water panels, the chamois panels, etc, all within the traditional rugby jersey. I say again..... "Oh the horror, the horror.......... "

i think you will find that the major sponsor for the all blacks is addidas, making the jersey, shorts and socks all emblazoned with logos. But i do like it more than any other international strip and sponsorship arrangement

Without the collar you can't get your opponent grabbing your collar, and miss the penalty!!! Course you'd probably prefer to slip the tackle and get the try ....

RF, "Can’t wait for your next post!"? You talking to yourself mate? Giving yourself a wrap? :) You are drawing discussion away from my article on the same issue. Begone varmint rustler!!! ;) My thought about the hi tech materials etc, is do they need to make the supporter jerseys of the same stuff? Presumably this adds to the cost, but is unnecessary. Heavy cotton should do me fine for spilling beer on at the game. Of course, the idea is the supporters wear the same shirt as their team, but if it would save money, all the good. Of course, any savings in manufacturing wouldn';t be passed onto the punter. Just more profit as part of the $165 price tag. Why anyone would pay full freight I don't know. I did in 2003 but only because I needed one in Melbourne for the Ireland game (well I think it was about $15 below RRP). Wait for the end of season sales.