Cardiff Blues are blessed with one of the nicest colour palettes of any team in the Pro14 – the mix of dark and light blue works so well, and at times they’ve brought it together with utterly show-stopping results.
For the last four years however, the balance between the light and dark has tipped more in favour of the latter – traditionally Blues shirts were light blue primarily (Cambridge blue, in traditional parlance, Cronulla blue as Canterbury calls it), but particularly in the case of the last two seasons’ design, the dark was firmly in charge.
So this year’s design definitely marks a return to the more traditional, with the light bblue being clearly the dominant colour, though the design itself is definitely a call-back to the previous design.
So in similar fashion to the 2014-16 shirt, we have pinstriped strips running across the front and back of the design, and contrasting sleeves, though the pinstripes are thicker this year, there’s more of them, and they’re doubled up with a third shade of blue. The stripes also have an interesting jagged edge to them
Equally notable this year is the collar – in contrast to all the other new Canterbury designs we’ve seen this season, the Blues have opted for the old 360-degree Loop neckline that the company’s shirts used from 2015-17.
It’s an odd one, but we liked the old design a lot, and it does serve to add a bit more dark blue to the equation so we’re not complaining.
All in all, this is a very nice jersey, that throws back to Blues shirts past without feeling too samey and repetitive.
It’s also good to see the Blues fully commit to the light blue again – it’s the primary colour the club wore when they were making waves in Europe, and a unique one at that. It helps the Blues stand out from the crowd, and that’s never a bad thing.
Rugby Shirt Watch 
If it were traditional, it would have black. Hopefully will again.