Though the days of Manawatu being a powerhouse in the world of New Zealand provincial rugby are long past, the union is still a significant force in the Mitre 10 Cup, as they demonstrated by stunning table-toppers Canterbury last week. One thing that’s never less than stunning, however, is the Turbos’ jersey…
Manawatu have one of the most distinctive and unique jerseys in all of rugby – the green design with the pairs of thin white hoops is instantly recognisable, not to mention utterly gorgeous.
After a long association with rugby league stalwarts ISC, the Turbos have moved to fellow Aussie company BLK this season, and sensibly they’ve opted to keep the basic recipe of a great Manawatu jersey intact.
So we have the striking green jersey of course, with the iconic white hoops, and they’ve also opted to carry on the trend from the ISC days of pairing the jersey with plain white sleeves – a very solid look.
Changes include the far preferable BLK insert-style collar, and a nice little touch on the sleeve cuffs, where we have two green hoops to echo the white hoops on the body. The main sponsor is unfortunately clashy, but it could be worse, and the OCD side of us appreciates that at least BLK has ensured that the logo fits nicely into a single hoop – we wish ISC has been as careful…
The Turbos might not win too many NPC titles in the near future, but as the last few years have proved, Manawatu is still a hotbed of rugby talent – just ask Aarons Cruden and Smith, or indeed Nehe Milner-Skudder – and thankfully, BLK has ensured that it remains a centre for unique rugby jersey style, too.
Rugby Shirt Watch 
I don’t know if you do this much but will you be able to put where we can buy the jerseys when they become available, in the article?
Don’t generally do it Ryan, as it depends on your location – for example you’ll be hard-pressed to find one outside of NZ, so you’d have to order from somewhere like Champions.co.nz and get it shipped to wherever you are