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Why don't the Lions have a midweek jersey?
By Jamie Wall
The Lions rotate their squad for midweek games, why not the colours of their kit?
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There is no debate that the British & Irish Lions uniform not only looks great, but is an iconic part of rugby history. The clean scarlet jersey, white shorts and blue-and-green socks are what every British player aspires to wear, even if the outcome of their tours never ends up not being quite as great as they look on the pitch.
But do the jerseys always have to be red? Why not swap the colour scheme around while they’re on tour?
The jersey represents the dominant red of Wales, which makes a bit of sense given their contribution to the Lions’ heyday of the early 70s. The shorts are in the white of England, meanwhile the Celtic nations have to make do with sharing the socks – a major point of consternation among Scottish and Irishmen.
The best thing about the Lions is that they play a lot of games. They’re not just here to get off a plane, make a couple of boring press conferences, play the All Blacks and go home. They stay long enough for us to get used to them, hanging out in towns and doing far more promotional work than any other visiting rugby team.
They have an incredibly loyal fan base willing to travel halfway around the world to watch a tour that many have written their team off from winning years in advance.
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But that’s not all the support they are getting – there are also the legions of British expats who reside in New Zealand. These folks buy jerseys. Wouldn’t it be great if the Scots, Irish and even the English got to have a Lions jersey in their own national colours?
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Just swap the colours round for each midweek game – you’ll have a ton more jersey sales, plus the end result will be a nice change up for local fans.
Now, before all the traditionalists jump up and down, I will admit the Lions current strip has been unchanged for quite a while – 67 years in fact. But it wasn’t always like this. Back when they first started it was a red, white and blue striped number.
Then came just a red and white version, followed by a dark blue jersey that forced the All Blacks to become the All Whites for the first time. Things were finally settled after the Second World War, when the national colours of each nation were incorporated into the strip we know today.
So it’s not like it hasn’t changed before. And to be clear, I’m not advocating a change to the test jersey. Leave that red – but play in white, blue or green for the games against the Super Rugby teams.
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This wouldn’t be your usual arbitrary jersy change, like when the Highlanders decided to go green for some reason in 2011 for their alternate jersey. These colours actually mean something, and will be settling a few tempers across the home unions.
Given how much money gets made on Lions tours already, what would be the harm in making a bit more?
