Racing Métro 92 are a team where style seems to be just as important as results or trophies. Certainly there were times last season when the only thing the team had to cling to, but as the season went on, Racing’s star-studded team started to do their shirt proud and finished the season very strongly, making a late playoff surge.
It was the least last year’s shirt deserved, to be honest – that was a thing of simple, classic beauty. Yes, as you might remember, we were a little bit in love with that shirt, and honestly, it was challenging the Cardiff Blues home shirt for our favourite of the year… so no pressure this time around then…
As you’d expect from a club whose players founded the Eden Park clothing company, there was never any danger of this new design being anything less than a clean, unfussy design. However, while it definitely ticks all the right boxes, there’s something a little… off here.
Like the other Kappa shirts we’ve reviewed this year, this new design has opted for a contrasting colour on the sleeve cuffs and around the front and back of the collar. But last year’s design was such a masterclass in absolute simplicity, the extra flashes of blue, nice though they are, feel a little like drawing a ‘tache on the Mona Lisa, or giving Adam Jones a haircut. You don’t need to mess with something that’s absolutely perfect as it is.
This year’s jersey has also moved the badges have moved from the centre of the jersey to occupying either side of the chest. It’s perfectly normal and acceptable of course – the vast majority of shirts out there have the badge and sponsor in this configuration – but we just loved the symmetry of them being placed centrally last year.
If it sounds like we’re being unduly harsh on this shirt, well… we are. This is still a very lovely shirt, but it falls a little short of the heights of last season.
The alternate shirt will be familiar to anyone who watched Racing turn out last season – it’s pretty much identical to what the Parisiennes wore last season, with the new Macron matching collar and cuffs (ahem…) arrangement added.
And if it ain’t broke… well… just look at the damn think. The contrast between the red and that wonderfully striking sky blue and white central band is just a thing of beauty, and the badge and supplier logo are straight down the middle in a symmetrical way that makes our OCD positively jump for joy.
The third shirt is another tweaked design from last season… and if anything we think it’s even more gorgeous than the away kit. Simplicity, symmetry, and a beautiful mix of sky blue, dark blue and white. On both of these revamped designs we preferred the more pronounced collar of last year’s effort, but we’re really splitting the finest of pubes here.
Like Indiana Jones & The Temple Of Doom, these shirts might be sequels that try do all the wonderful things the originals did, just not quite as well, but when the results are as box office as this, it’s hard to feel like we’re being short-changed. Can any other club in the world boast three such lovely shirts? We think not.
SHIT/GOOD RATING: ALMOST AS GOOD THE SECOND TIME AROUND
Rugby Shirt Watch 