As you may well know, France are coming to the end of their seven-year association with Adidas at the end of the 2017/18 season, and given this fact, you might have assumed that Les Bleus would be wearing the home shirt they wore for last month’s Autumn internationals to see out that period… think again! Yup, the FFR don’t do anything conventionally it seems, and so they’ve opted to bring out their brand new home shirt a week after the Autumn Internationals finish, and a full two months after everyone else – plus ca change!
And so here we have it – Adidas’ final French shirt and, well, you have to say that they’re most certainly going out with a bang. Last year’s home shirt took things in a dark and defiantly modern direction, and while this year’s shirt opts for a more traditional shade of blue, that’s about the only thing that could be described as traditional.
We don’t really know what to make of the intricate interlocking geometric pattern that covers the whole of the jersey to be honest. Adidas haven’t given us any indication of the theme behind the design, and beyond the fact that it looks pretty interesting we haven’t got a lot to go on.
Has it got some deep significance relating to the way the shapes interlock reflecting the way the French XV all work together as one? Or is it an ode to the inimitable design panache of the 1970s pub carpet? We may never know.
Just like its odd release date, there’s something very strange about this jersey – we like it, it’s kinda cool, but it’s definitely out of the ordinary. Perhaps that’s a fitting way for Adidas to bow out of their contract with Les Bleus, but our heart still belongs to the change shirt.
Rugby Shirt Watch 
The French often refer to their country as ‘the hexagon’ due to its geometric shape; this along with moorish or North African influence could be the basis of the design…