NEWS: Wales rugby reveal 2019/20 Sevens jerseys

The Welsh Rugby Union have revealed their new 2019/20 ‘Pathway’ jerseys, which will be most visibly worn by the Wales Sevens team as they compete on the HSBC Sevens circuit this season.

These shirts have been available from retailers for a while now, but have finally got their official launch ahead of the Sevens Series kickoff next month.

The jerseys themselves are very similar to the Wales men’s 15s shirts currently being worn at the Rugby World Cup, down to the basic template and the low-profile V-neck collar.

The Pathway jerseys also share the same basic colour palettes as the World Cup designs, with a red home shirt paired with a dark green change shirt.

Where they differ however is the pattern on the jerseys. Gone is the quartered pattern of the primary shirt in favour of a dragon scale motif, which has been used by the Sevens in previous years.

However, it’s important to remember that while these jerseys will perhaps be most visibly seen being worn by Wales Sevens, that’s not all they’re for.

The WRU has been at pains to describe these shirts as ‘Pathway’, as have we in this article, and there’s a good reason for that.

This season, for the first time all of Wales’ teams outside of the senior men’s and women’s 15s sides will be wearing one jersey – the Pathway.

The idea is that it unifies all the development structures of the WRU under one umbrella and one jersey – be that sevens or age-grade teams for both genders.

There are good and bad outcomes of this of course – on the plus side, it means fans of the Sevens or U-20s can purchase a replica jersey for the first time, and gives a sense of unity among the development teams.

The WRU often gets criticised for prioritising the senior teams above everything else, so this bespoke shirt (and sponsor) gives the lower echelons something that’s unique and theirs, which can’t be a bad thing.