It’s Six Nations time! Here at Fantasy Rugby Geek, living up to our name as Rugby Geeks, we have a bit of an obsession… with stash. We know we’re not the only ones, and we’re in good company along with the good stash-loving folks at The Eggchasers Rugby Podcast and the magnificent Rugby Shirt Watch (which is a must follow for anyone stash-inclined) as we can’t help but analyse, scrutinise and spend an inordinate amount of cash any new rugby shirt that takes our fancy.
So, without further ado, and offering absolutely zero use to your fantasy team, here’s our overview of who is leading the way in the international rugby sartorial stakes ahead of the Guinness Six Nations, and if any of these kits take your fancy, then head to Lovell Rugby who are offering some brilliant details on international and club kits! Get involved!
England
England’s home shirts are one of those jerseys that it is traditionally very hard to be creative with, and Canterbury have been very conscious of this since they became England’s kit supplier in 2012. This year’s home shirt is a move to a more simplistic, classic England look with a plain white round necked shirt with some red detailing on the shoulders and some subtle red and grey crosses on the shirt. The alternative kit always allows the designers a bit more creative licence, however in this year’s shirt they have kept the same template as the home shirt and switched the primary colour from white to black. A solid effort.
England’s kits are widely available in the usual places including here at Lovell Rugby
France
Adidas have produced some stunners for France in recent years, so this year marks a dramatic departure a Le Coq de Sportif take over the responsibilities. After such refined and stylish efforts in recent years, the new shirt takes a bit of getting used to. The home shirt is a classic royal blue with an exaggerated deep white collar and the colours of the tricolore on the shirt sleeve. The away shirt keeps the same style but inverts the blue and white. Once you get over the big change, this new French kit could well grow on you.
France’s kits are widely available in the usual places including here at Lovell Rugby
Ireland
Ireland’s new home shirt is a the most daring design that Canterbury have introduced since taking over the design of the Irish kits. As with the England shirts, it utilises a round collar and is in it’s countries classic home colour of emerald green, however the similarities with the England shirt end there. Throughout the torso Canterbury have peppered the shirts with small shamrock shaped triangles. It’s a bold move and is well pulled off. The away shirt has a bit of a training kit vibe about it, utilising the triangles again, but this time with a light blue torso and navy blue sleeves and collar. Full marks to Canterbury for trying something a bit different.
Ireland’s kits are widely available in the usual places including here at Lovell Rugby
Italy
This is Macron’s second attempt on the Italy shirt and the new shirts, whilst pleasant enough, are still some way from their Kappa and Adidas heyday. Both shirts don’t veer far from traditions with a royal blue shirt with a subtle wing-tipped collar and some nice Italian flag detailing on the shirt sleeves, while the alternative is primarily white with thin green and red hoops, keeping the new style collar. It’s solid but uninspiring and a far cry from some of the past Italian classics.
Italy’s kits are widely available in the usual places including here at Lovell Rugby
Scotland
Scotland have had some hit and miss kits in recent years, and this years effort falls into the former category, a great improvement on last year. Macron again are the supplier, and the home shirt is a simple and well executed shirt. Classic navy blue with an interesting purple v-neck collar. In this case less is more. The away shirt keeps a similar template but is primarily grey, with navy on the sleeves. A+ for the home shirt, and a fine effort on the away too.
Scotland’s kits are widely available in the usual places including here at Lovell Rugby
Wales
Having had two years of the “Zapp Brannigan” shirt…
As well as doubling as an OS map for orienteering, the new Wales stash is a vast improvement on the previous monstrosity.
Before v after: pic.twitter.com/VGVCSTFadb
— Tim Cocker (@cocker) October 18, 2017
…Wales have wisely kept the traditional plain red shirt introduced last season for a second year. Classic scarlet red with darker red collar and detailing on the sleeves. Wales’ new away shirt is another simplistic and restrained affair, dark grey (Anthracite to be exact!) with red detailing on the collar and sleeves. Top work from Under Armour.
Wales’s kits are widely available in the usual places including here at Lovell Rugby
So there you go, it certainly won’t help your fantasy team, and we won’t take it personally if you completely disagree with our assessment, but that is the Fantasy Rugby Geek’s stash review of the 2019 Guinness Six Nations!
One more thing…
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