The release of a new Australia home jersey is always a big event – not least because outside of Rugby World Cups, the Wallabies don’t wear a change design, so this is the whole deal.
This new jersey is even more important than usual, as it will be the shirt that’s worn not just for the 2018 international season, but also for all of Australia’s test matches in 2019 right up until the Rugby World Cup.
It’s fitting then that ASICS has opted for perhaps its most classic Wallabies jersey since the Japanese firm took on the ARU contract in 2014.
Once again we’ve dispensed with any white here, instead opting for a straight mix of gold and green, with much of the piping that has been a feature of recent Wallabies designs dispatched for clean lines and small touches of green on the sleeve cuffs and the new collar – itself a departure from the last few seasons. It’s more traditional design is apparently a nod to the successful Wallabies teams of the 80s.
Another nod to Wallabies teams of bygone days is the subtle embossed Southern Cross motif on the right shoulder.
The Southern Cross itself has been a prominent feature on the shoulder in the last two Wallaby jerseys, and featured even more prominently on the 2014 variant, but this time its an embossed version that’s apparently designed as a nod to the Wallabies teams of the 90s.
The only other particularly notable feature of this design is a contrasting, more breathable-looking fabric that runs across the shoulders, down the back and on the side panels. It’s a subtle variation, but something that adds a bit of detail to the design.
All in all, this is a pretty good looking jersey – it’s clean, classic and nicely balanced, with some nice little details… the only bone of contention will be the collar. It certainly feels old school, but in a way that we expect will polarise people in a way that a fold-over collar would not. Other than that, however, we have no complaints.
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