ABs jersey ‘white collar crime’
There was a time when anyone wearing an All Blacks jersey who hadn’t actually been an All Black would have been run out of town as an imposter.
Now, it seems like you aren’t a real All Blacks fan if you don’t swell New Zealand Rugby and adidas coffers by shelling out $150 every year for a replica of the jersey worn by Kieran Read and his men in black.
Rock up in last year’s model and you risk losing your cardcarrying status in New Zealand’s Stadium of Four Million.
The ‘latest’ All Blacks jersey unveiled – amid much bluster from the hucksters –yesterday evening in Tokyo, which isn’t in New Zealand my maps tell me.
Expect the All Blacks to go back to the future – a black jersey with a white collar – four years after dumping it for a black border.
Let’s call this exercise for what it is – a shameless attempt by NZR and adidas – makers of the All Blacks jersey since 1999 – to prise precious dollars out of punters’ pockets.
They aren’t the only sports ‘brands’ at it – European football clubs have had annual shirt changes for years.
NZR officials will argue they need every buck to they can get to keep talent such as Beauden Barrett away from overseas clubs’ clutches.
But, there was no such thing as an All Blacks replica jersey until 1999 when the New Zealand Rugby Union punted Canterbury International – a New Zealand company that made the jersey for most of the 20th century – to get into bed with global giants adidas.
Until then, anyone sporting an All Blacks jersey was either a genuine All Blacks alumnus (who didn’t wear them off-field, anyway) or they had swiped it from someone’s washing line.
Just like car manufacturers who roll out this year’s model sporting a spoiler which renders the previous year’s vehicle obsolete, the All Blacks’ gatekeepers are treating their treasured jersey as nothing more than a commodity.
No doubt, the spinners will say the 2019 mark is the latest in aerodynamic technology and a tilt to tradition.
Just as in 2014 – when the white collar was dropped – they dubbed the new jumper as ‘‘the blackest jersey ever’’.
The question remains: Will the rugby punters care a jot about a mild change?
A poll in 2014 revealed almost 50 per cent of respondents preferred a white collar with 26 per cent backing black and 24 per cent not caring either way.
If sentiments remain the same, the return to a white collar should be well received. Rugby fans are traditionalists, not fashionistas.
Some rugby fans won’t bother making the change. They might well choose to save their money for petrol, or weekend car parking fees, or fresh vegetables.
But even then, fans must be heartily sick of tiresome tinkering with the most famous jumper in world rugby.
It was only last year adidas unveiled a new ‘‘model’’ for the British and Irish Lions tour. Its only significant change was a crest noting the years 1904 (when a British team first toured New Zealand) and 2017.
That ‘unveiling’ occurred mere months after adidas warbled that they had produced ‘‘the strongest jersey ever’’, which was two years in the making.
Their timing wasn’t good – the All Blacks first wore the ‘‘strongest jersey’’ in Chicago in 2016 during their historic firstever test loss to Ireland.
Changes
So, how has the All Blacks jersey altered down the years?
In early times, it was a simple affair – black jersey with white collar and a big silver fern – black shorts and black socks with white stripes at the top.
There was the odd derivation – Dave Gallaher’s 1905 team wore jerseys with a snazzy grey chevron across the shoulders and upper chest and lace-up fastenings.
When the 1924 Invincibles toured Europe, the chevron was black instead of grey but the jersey plackets were still laced.
The treasured jersey remained word-free until 1986 when the NZRU took its first step into marketing mode in a bid to maximise the All Blacks ‘‘brand’’. The silver fern was reduced in size with ‘‘New Zealand All Blacks’’ printed underneath.
The Canterbury Clothing Company imprint was added to the right breast in 1993. Steinlager – an All Blacks sponsor since 1986 – had its logo added in 1994, although it had to be covered on the 1995 tour of France because of French laws restricting alcohol sponsorship.
Canterbury lost its manufacturing rights in 1999 when New Zealand Rugby signed its adidas deal. The German multinational removed the white stand-up collar and introduced a black ‘‘Chinese’’ collar in its place.
That design remained in vogue for more than a decade, although adidas introduced tighter, figure hugging jerseys in 2007, in an apparent bid to make it harder for opponents to pull off jersey-tugging tackles. It might have worked for Dan Carter, but middle-aged, beer-bellied All Blacks fans struggled with the new look.
The 2007 tweak also saw the introduction of a grey alternate strip, fatefully worn by the All Blacks in their Rugby World Cup final loss to France in Cardiff.
This decade’s All Blacks jersey meddles
2011: The white collar returned for the Rugby World Cup, won by the All Blacks in New Zealand.
2012: New Zealand Rugby signed a deal with American global insurance giant AIG, whose logo was added to the centre of the All Blacks jersey.
2014: The white collar is kicked into touch again, in favour of ‘the blackest jersey yet’.
2015: The Rugby World Cup version retained the black collar but introduced a patterned design across the shoulders and chest of the new jersey, inspired by the famous leather yoke of the Originals jersey in 1905.
2016: The ‘toughest jersey yet’ is introduced in time for the Irish test loss in Chicago. A backup jersey – with a black upper section and white from the chest down – was worn in a test in France. Both editions bore a large AIG logo, prompting New Zealand First leader Winston Peters to say: ‘‘Clearly it’s a sponsor pulling the strings for a new design in which their name dominates – on the new jersey the silver fern and the All Blacks name appear as an afterthought with AIG taking centre place in giant lettering.’’
2017: Out comes another ‘new’ jumper with the Lions tour commemorative crest.
November 2018: The All Blacks will play in their ‘new’
2019 jersey against Japan in Tokyo.
What does it all mean for the rugby punter?
Say you’re a fashion conscious rugby fan who has been following the All Blacks since 2007.
Determined to keep up with the play, you’ve invested in a new jersey every time adidas has a bright idea.
There have been (at least) eight jersey versions between 2007 and 2018. With All Blacks jerseys retailing for $150, someone buying all eight incarnations would have shelled out around $1000.
Here’s a cost-saving tip:
Tired of forking out every year for the latest jumper? Some overseas companies have produce replica jumpers devoid of intrusive advertising logos.
An All Blacks version might not have the stylised silver fern with the copyright marque and it might not be the one Kieran Read will wear. But it will look more like the version Colin Meads proudly wore in 55 tests – and it won’t need updating every year.