Canterbury, official kit supplier to England Rugby, has today unveiled the new alternate kit for the 2017/18 season. The women’s team will wear the alternate strip in their second Old Mutual Wealth Series match against Canada on 21st November. The men’s team will wear it in their Old Mutual Wealth Series match against Argentina on 11th November.
The dark grey kit is accentuated with a fiery red fade – designed to mask player movement. In line with England head coach Eddie Jones’ vision to be more disruptive and uncompromising on the field, the dark grey colour was chosen as a point of difference to the usual colour palette used by England. Inspired by distraction principles, the red fade feature is designed to make it harder to distinguish aspects of the body during the tackle.
In addition an embossed motif on the body and inner neckline of the jersey, featuring textured angular shapes, pays homage to the fortress of Twickenham, the home of England Rugby.
Through rigorous testing and research, Canterbury has created the most technically advanced jersey to date. The alternate kit features the full range of innovations present in the home kit, including increased durability and strength and the popular loop neckline, a design aspect that has been synonymous with Canterbury since 1949.
The weight of the kit has also been reduced by 20gsm, and is now the lightest kit ever to be made by Canterbury. With the inclusion of Canterbury’s VapoDri+ technology within the fabric, player comfort is at the forefront of its design, allowing the kit to perform in the most demanding of conditions while giving players a competitive advantage on the field.
Consistent with Canterbury’s ‘Individually strong. Unbreakable as one’ campaign, each retail jersey carries a unique identification plaque; a representation of the collective support that unites the team, while ensuring each jersey purchased is truly an original item.
Speaking about the new shirt, England men’s captain Dylan Hartley said “It’s an honour for each and every player to wear the England shirt and represent the country. It’s great to see once again that Canterbury is as committed to performance as we players are. It gives us real confidence to know we are wearing the best possible kit.”
Canterbury’s Senior Designer, Gareth Woosey added: “The new has kit been designed to not only provide a competitive edge, but to also maintain style and comfort for the England supporters watching the game. The inclusion of a unique plaque highlights the collective commitment from both elite players and supporters to drive the team forward throughout the 17/18 season. The team rely on the kit to aid performance, and we are confident that our kit will perform as well as the players on the field.”
The new England Rugby alternate jersey from Canterbury is now available in store and online via EnglandRugbyStore.com and Canterbury.com.
Report courtesy of England Rugby
