The times are changing for the Queensland Reds. Since they won the Super Rugby title in 2011, they’ve tumbled down the ladder finishing a bleak 14th in 2017, but with Brad Thorn at the helm they’ll be looking to turn it around. Things are also changing on the kit front, too – after seven years with Kooga/BLK, the Reds made an unusual mid-season swap to Zoo Sport last season, and have followed it up with the new brand’s first proper take on it.
Zoo’s take is a nice, restrained modern take on the Reds recipe, with a tonal diagonal striped red jersey accented by the traditional dark blue on the sleeves and the collar.
It’s not a million miles away from BLK’s designs to be honest, but the collar is a notable change, with a very classy partially v’d skinny design.
The other new release in Zoo’s first Reds collection is a maroon-coloured heritage jersey, which you may remember was a concept that the Queensland team experimented with as a one-off design in 2017.
The darker shade of Red is an historic one for Queensland – back in the amateur days of rugby union in Australia, the likes of Mark Loane, Tony Shaw and Andrew Slack donned shirts in this colour complete with white trim.
As first attempts go, these first two shirts are very promising for the Zoo Sport. The home shirt is a very clean contemporary design, while the Heritage shirt is a real looker – as classy and vintage as you could want.
All in all, we’re excited to see what Zoo does with the Reds in the coming months and years.
Rugby Shirt Watch 