There are some things that seem to belong together, and while the relationship between supplier and team is inherently a commercial one, there’s no doubt that some teams just look wrong without a certain supplier logo on their chest – and Toulouse and Nike are just such a pairing.
As such, Toulouse’s return to Nike last season just felt right, and their first new kits were rather nice, if a little plain. 2018/19’s home shirt goes some way to addressing that – the plain black shirt is ornamented with an interesting grey faded stripey pattern that runs from top to bottom.
It’s a cool and unique effect, and is certainly a great deal more striking off the bat than the none more black Saracens jersey, and the equally plain home shirt from last season – though we do miss the red and black pinstriped side pattern.
We do get some red, however, in the shape of the rather lovely hooped sleeve cuffs and and collar back.
The away shirt is effectively a simple palette swap of the home shirt, with black substituted for white, and the same grey pattern on both the front and back.
Again, it’s a cool design, and the graphic on the body of the design is more prominent against white than it is on black – those striped cuffs pop a bit more, too.
All in all then, we really like these shirts – they’re not the best shirts Toulouse have ever made for Nike, but then they’ve been doing that for over two decades so they have a lot of competition.
Instead, these are solid designs that look good without perhaps being the most memorable designs ever – maybe next season they can throw some of that Argentina madness into the recipe?
Rugby Shirt Watch 