It’s Autumn International 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 November internationals, and if any of these kits take your fancy, then head to Lovell Rugby who are offering a free British & Irish Lions shirt with all International, Aviva Premiership, Pro 14 and Top 14 shirt purchases! Get involved!
Argentina
Argentina have a long history of putting out some stunning kits, and this year’s effort is no exception. With iconic kits like this, less is more, and Nike have demonstrated restraint and class in this glorious shirt. Bold sky blue hoops with a round collar, full blue sleeves and a faded effect on the lower hoops. Simple, classy and a classic.
Argentina’s Autumn campaign commences with a visit to Twickenham to face England on the 11th November, followed by Italy on the 18th and concludes with a trip to the Aviva Stadium to take on Ireland on the 25th November.
Argentina’s kits are not widely available but can be found at World Rugby Shop.
Australia
Another famous kit that is best kept simple (although the recent one off kit for their glorious Bledisloe Cup victory was a bold effort), the latest shirt from Asics is a restrained affair, solid gold shirt with dark green piping along the chest and a green collar. It won’t win any prizes for creativity but won’t upset the traditionalists. A solid, if slightly uninspiring, effort.
Australia kick off a busy Autumn taking on the Barbarians at AAMI Park on the 29th October, then it’s up to Yokohama to face Japan on the 4th November, from there they head West where first up it’s Wales on November 11th, followed by England on November 18th and finally Scotland on November 25th.
Australia’s kits are widely available in the usual places including here at Huge Rugby and here at Lovell Rugby
Barbarians
When it comes to classic traditional rugby shirts, you’d be hard pushed to find a shirt quite so steeped in history than that of the iconic black and white hoops of the BaaBaa’s. The latest effort from Kooga doesn’t mess around with the classic. Simple Black and white hoops encased with thinner stripes and a plain white grandad collar. A great effort.
The BaaBaas have three games this autumn; Australia at AAMI Park on the 29th October, New Zealand at Twickenham on the 5th November and Tonga at Thomond Park on the 10th November.
Barbarians’ kits are widely available in the usual places including here on Amazon
Canada
Canada have had some hits (and some absolute misses) in years gone by, but this year’s efforts falls firmly into the former camp. It’s a great looking shirt courtesy of Under Armour. An uncomplicated and solid red shirt with a white v-neck collar and white sleeves. The away shirt is the inverse with solid white torso and red sleeves and collar. If I had one criticism it would be that the DHL logo is intrusively large, and the sponsor’s colour palette doesn’t lend itself well, particularly on the away shirt, but generally it is a great looking set of shirts.
Canada’s Autumn campaign commences by them welcoming New Zealand Maori to BC Place on the 3rd November; they then head out to Georgia for a match on November 11th, and then to Spain for November 18th.
Canada’s kits are not widely available but can be found at World Rugby Shop.
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 probably the most creative of the Canterbury England shirts, with a faded black effect at the bottom of the sleeves. It has divided opinion, but at Fantasy Rugby Geek we are fans. The alternative kit always allows the designers a bit more creative licence, and this years alternative effort takes the home shirt template but integrates a black torso with faded red sleeves and some red detailing around the collar. A very solid effort from the kings of stash at Canterbury.
England welcome three teams to Twickenham on November, including Argentina on November 11th, Australia on November 18th and Samoa on November 25th.
England’s kits are widely available in the usual places including here at Huge Rugby and here at Lovell Rugby
Fiji
The famous white shirt of Fiji is a simple effort this year with a plain solid white shirt with a subtle background tribal motif with black piping at the bottom of the sleeves and around the collar. The motif takes centre stage on the ISC designed alternative kit, which is a black inverse of the home kit. Clean, uncomplicated and effective.
Fiji travel to Europe for three tests this November, starting with Italy on November 11th, Ireland on November 18th and finishing with Canada at the Altrad Stadium.
Fiji’s kits are widely available in the usual places including here at Lovell Rugby
France
France seem to be using the same home kit as last year, and quite frankly when it is this nice, who cares. Adidas have produced some stunners for France in recent years and both the home and alternative shirts this year are exquisite. The home shirt is classic navy blue with the vertical three stripes on the shoulders and tron-like red patterns along the body, while the alternative is a white shirt with the horizontal stripes but also integrates some very cool rugby league style chevrons across the chest. Truly outstanding, bravo Adidas.
France have three Autumn tests were they will welcome New Zealand on November 11th, South Africa on November 18th and Japan on November 25th.
France’s kits are widely available in the usual places including here at Lovell Rugby
Georgia
These, right here, are a thing of absolute beauty, Canterbury have truly knocked it out of the park with Georgia’s home and away kits. Both shirts are extremely simple but elegant efforts, the home is maroon with gold detailing, while the away is white with gold detailing. The collar is the classic Canterbury open neck style and the sponsor is beautifully integrated into the design. Standing ovation to Canterbury for these.
Georgia’s Autumn campaign commences when they welcome Canada to Georgia on November 11th, they will also host the USA on the 25th and these two games are interspersed with a visit to Cardiff to face Wales on the 18th November.
Georgia’s kits are are available here at Lovell Rugby
Ireland
Ireland’s new home shirt is a classic emerald green shirt with dark green sleeves and a raised collar with white detailing; it’s uncomplicated, effective and traditional. The away shirt is a bit more creative with the introduction of camo sleeves, a dark grey body and a bright green detailing on the collar. It’s a great looking shirt that we will hopefully see being run out when Ireland welcome the Boks to the Aviva Stadium on the 11th November.
Ireland host three matches at the Aviva Stadium this November; first up is South Africa on November 11th, followed by Fiji on the 18th November and Argentina on the 18th.
Ireland’s kits are widely available in the usual places including here at Huge Rugby and here at Lovell Rugby
Italy
Italy’s kit supplier Macron don’t have a huge Rugby heritage and the new Italy shirts, whilst pleasant enough, are a long way from their Kappa and Adidas heyday. Both shirts don’t veer far from traditions with a royal blue shirt with gold detailing and the alternative following the home template but switching blue for white. It’s solid but uninspiring and a far cry from some of the past Italian classics.
Italy’s Autumn campaign commences with a visit to Twickenham to face England on the 11th November, folled by Italy on the 18th and concludes with a trip to the Aviva Stadium to take on Ireland on the 25th November.
Italy’s kits are widely available in the usual places including here at Huge Rugby and here at Lovell Rugby
Japan
The Japan shirt is one of those classics that never fails to please and has been highly sought after ever since their heroic victory over the Boks in 2015. The shirt today is very similar to the 2015 effort, still designed by Canterbury and still utilising a curved red and white hoop with the classic Canterbury collar. The alternative shirt uses the same template but switches the colour to blue and black. Both are great looking shirts but the famous red and white hoops of the home shirt just edge it.
Japan’s Autumn campaign sees them take on Australia on November 4th, Tonga on November 18th and France on November 25th.
Japan’s kits are available here at Huge Rugby and here at Lovell Rugby
Netherlands
Right, well I have no idea whether the Netherlands have any autumn internationals lined up, but I just wanted to share this piece of absolute beauty from the Oranje. We were first alerted to this by the good gentlemen over at the MaulOver podcast, who dug it out in on google in the hope that it matched the brilliance of the legendary Dutch football kit, and doesn’t it just! Made by Canterbury no less, it utilises the classic Dutch Orange into a simple but effective Canterbury design with a subtle light Orange dotted fleck. The away shirt is equally classy, based on a solid navy blue shirt with Orange detailing. Let’s hope they raise the quality of the game in the Netherlands so that we will be able to see this shirt in action more often.
I’m not entirely certain whether the Netherlands have any internationals lined up this Autumn; if they do they will certainly be winning sartorially if not in terms of Rugby ability.
Netherlands’ kits are available on the Canterbury site.
New Zealand
It doesn’t get more iconic than the All Black shirt. The home shirt is does not veer far from tradition (albeit with a sponsor logo). Solid black with a completely black collar. There is little else to say about such a famous shirt. The alternative kit is a little less bound by tradition, and is a black and white half and half number, which is an aesthetically pleasing alternative and may well be seen when New Zealand head to Murrayfield on November 18th.
New Zealand have a relentless autumn campaign that begins against the Barbarians on November 4th, they then head over the channel to face France on November 11th and the French Barbarians on November 14th, this is followed by Scotland on November 18th and they finish against Wales on November 25th.
New Zealand’s kits are widely available in the usual places including here at Huge Rugby and here at Lovell Rugby
Romania
Produced by BLK, the Romania shirt isn’t the most exciting of the shirts in this list. Based on the traditional yellow, with a round collar and some traditional patterns along the midsection. It won’t be winning many awards but keeps to tradition.
Romania’s Autumn campaign consists of two matches, firstly against Samoa on November 18th and then Tonga on November 25th.
Romania’s kits are available on Amazon
Scotland
Scotland have had some great kits in recent years, but this years effort sadly falls short. The previous years polo shirt style collar is replaced by more of a grandad style collar, and the body follows a similar template to the Italian Macron shirts, also including purple and white hoops around the sleeves. The away shirt follows a similar format, primarily white with a purple chest area. All in all a bit disappointing compared to recent Scottish shirts.
Scotland host three matches at Murrayfield this November; first up is Samoa on November 11th, followed by New Zealand on the 18th November and Australia on the 25th.
Scotland’s kits are widely available in the usual places including here at Huge Rugby and here at Lovell Rugby
South Africa
The home Boks shirt sticks firmly to tradition and is all the better for it. A green and gold classic, a simple plain green body with traditional gold collar. There is nothing flashy about it and this is a good thing, less is more in this case. The alternative red shirt has hugely divided opinion; it was launched for the Argentina test and may be unlikely to be worn again. It had a largely negative opinion at launch with a large number of fans reacting angrily at such a departure from tradition. Rather than going any further, we’ll leave it at that!
South Africa kick off a busy Autumn taking on Ireland at the Aviva Stadium on 11th November, then it’s down to Paris to face France on the 18th November, from there they head to the Stadio Euganeo to take on Italy on November 25th and finally Wales on December 2nd.
South Africa’s kits are widely available in the usual places including here at Huge Rugby and here at Lovell Rugby
Spain
A growing European Rugby presence, Spain have engaged well-known Spanish football kit suppliers Joma to produce their kit, and it’s a great effort. The home shirt is a traditional red shirt with a blocky pixellated design effect and their emblem as a motif and navy blue motif. The alternative kit uses the same style but is primarily yellow with red detailing. We prefer the home design but both look great.
Spain’s Autumn campaign consists of two matches, firstly against Canada on November 18th and then Brazil on November 25th.
Spain’s kits are available here at Lovell Rugby
Tonga
Mizuno are now producing the Tonga kits, and there is very little to be found on the shirts anywhere online. From what we can see the home shirt is traditional red shirt with a white traditional Tongan pattern on the sleeves leading to the collar. Apart from that we no little else, and it doesn’t seem to be available to be bought anywhere.
Tonga travel to Europe for three tests this November, starting with Barbarians on November 10th, Japan on November 18th and finishing with Romania at Arcul de Triumf.
USA
Adidas have done a fantastic job since taking over duties for the US Eagles kits from Canterbury, and this year’s efforts are uncomplicated and highly effective. The home shirt is white with navy sleeves and a dark red collar and the horizontal Adidas strips on the shoulders. It’s a classic design that works exceptionally well. The alternative uses the same design but switches the colours around, so has a navy body, red sleeves and a white collar. A top effort.
USA’s Autumn campaign commences against Germany on November 18th and then on to Georgia on November 25th.
USA’s kits are available here at World Rugby Shop
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 returned to a traditional plain red shirt and it is a vast improvement. Classic scarlet red with darker red collar and detailing on the sleeves. A long overdue return to form.
Wales host four matches in Cardiff this November; first up is Australia on November 11th, followed by Georgia on the 18th November, then New Zealand on the 25th November and finally South Africa on the 2nd December.
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 2017 November Internationals!
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