Glendale Raptors are one of two Pacific Rugby Premiership teams based in the Denver area of Colorado (the other being Denver Barbarians, of course). They are also the newest team competing in the US top flight tournament, having only been established in 2007. Despite their young age, the club have been very successful, however, winning the Division 1 National Championship in 2011 and ending up on the losing side to SFGG in last year’s inaugural Pacific Rugby Premiership Grand Final.
In addition to being in possession of a rather cool (if a teeny bit Arena Football League) logo, which has been an occasional black mark for several of the PRP team shirts we’ve looked at this season, they also have, yes, yet another bloody gorgeous shirt from Canterbury.
Look, if you’re hear, you probably know we have a borderline inappropriate relationship with hooped rugby shirts… and any right-thinking rugby fan agrees that a hooped rugby shirt is better than a non-hooped one. It’s just science, bitch.
The Raptors particular take on hoops is a little unusual, and a lot gorgeous. The hoops are much bigger than your average (missus) and it reminds us a little of an Auckland jersey that’s been hitting the protein shakes a little bit too hard.
Interestingly, the hoops don’t actually continue all the way down the jersey – stopping around the midriff. It’s unusual, and could look a little sparse to some, but we think it works, and combined with the wonderful choice of dark red to accentuate the blue and white around the collar and sleeve cuffs, it all comes together to make yet another beautiful shirt.
The Raptors currently sit atop the Pacific Rugby Premiership standings with the playoffs looming – can they take their gorgeous shirt one step further and pull off a Premiership Grand Final win in 2015? We’ll see… but you can at least kit yourself out in these very fine threads by heading on over to WorldRugbyShop.com, where all the PRP jerseys are available exclusively for sale.
Rugby Shirt Watch 
