Tokyo 2020 Olympic 7s jerseys ranked in order of greatness

The Tokyo 2020 Olympics has arrived a year later than planned, and as the men’s tournament comes to an end with Fiji victorious, and New Zealand claiming the women’s gold what better way to celebrate rugby at the Games than ranking all the jerseys in order of greatness? None, indeed.

South Africa

Maxed, in-house brand of retailer Mr Price is the supplier for the SA Olympic committee, but compared to what ASICS has done with the Blitzboks of late, this is pretty underwhelming.

Brazil

A decent effort, if a little underwhelming – certainly doesn’t feel like a classic, but we dig the unusual number font.

China

The games’ surprise package have a great account of themselves, and their jerseys, while admittedly very clean and simple, were pretty cool too. The flag motif on the shoulder is nice, and the black and red change version works well too.

Australia

Perhaps we spoke to soon about ASICS – this yellow and green number is fine, but the diagonal splash of green makes this jersey feel more like a training shirt.

France

The women’s silver medalists certainly don’t win the kit battle, though the striking cockerel pattern across the body of the shirt is at least memorable.

New Zealand

The New Zealand jersey was predictably all black, but the fade sleeves with stars is a bit teamwear-ish – certainly not the best All Black jersey Adidas has made.

Japan

The hosts stuck with regular supplier Canterbury for the games as opposed to Mizuno, who were supplying the rest of the Japanese OC. The design is certainly striking, but we wish it wasn’t boxed in to the main body of the design.

Russian Olympic Committee

The ROC team sported a pair of nice jerseys with cool white daggered inserts running across the bottom – in blue and red, they looked very smart indeed.

Great Britain

The semi-finalists’ primary jersey is a striking blue and white number, but for kit clash reasons the GB men mainly ended up in this nice but not spectacular alternate number.

South Korea

Korea were an unexpected qualifier for the games, and they rocked up with a suitably memorable kit, with a boldly modernist take on the national flag.

Ireland

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The last-gasp qualifiers managed to rock up in Tokyo with some of the best jerseys in the comp – the pattern might be borrowed from training gear used by fellow Adi teams Leinster and Munster but it still feels dynamic and memorable.

Canada

With its maple pattered shoulder section and old school collar, there’s an argument that the Canadians were the most smartly attired team in Tokyo, if not for…

Argentina

We’re gonna mark Argentina down a little for using the same jersey that the XVs do, but familiarity should not breed contempt for this stunning design.

USA

America the beautiful indeed – the All American shield on the jersey elevates the Eagles new Canterbury design to the next level. Incredible stuff.

Fiji

Look, when the Fijians revealed this jersey just before the Olympics, we never imagined that we’d be giving this jersey anything less than our Gold Medal. And it’s wonderful – a stunning design, dynamic and bold with the electricity running through it. However…

Kenya

We never expected Kenya to flip the script like this, but look at it! The stunning geometric pattern, its use of colour, the sheer unmitigated coolness. It was a close run thing, but for us this just pips Kenya for the title of best jersey at the Tokyo Olympics.