NZ Rugby’s ‘deliberate’ decision over All Blacks jersey logo amid Nations Championship confusion
Blacks Sam Darry and Will Jordan with an inset of Springboks back Damian Willemse
The All Blacks are the only team not sporting a Nations Championship badge on their jersey, and a New Zealand Rugby spokesman has revealed why.
Eagle-eyed fans have noticed that Dave Rennie’s charges do not have the tournament’s logo pasted onto the right-hand shoulder of their jerseys.
In fact, every other nation has donned the logo on the side of their shirts in the opening round of the competition, with the men from Aotearoa being the only exception.
Why the All Blacks don’t have the Nations Championship logo
Popular Facebook page in New Zealand, ‘The Legend of Marty Banks’, raised the question on why the All Blacks haven’t followed suit with a photos of the Wallabies, Wales, Ireland, Springboks, England and France wearing jerseys featuring the patch and New Zealand’s kit being artwork-free with the caption reading: “Did NZ not get the memo on the ‘Nations Championship‘ logo?”
However, an NZ Rugby spokesman confirmed to the New Zealand Herald that the union did in fact get the memo but opted not to oblige as it is not a requirement in the participation agreement.
“NZR is very deliberate about what is placed on national team jerseys, including for commercial and non-commercial reasons,” a spokesman told the publication.
“There is no requirement in the Nations Championship participation agreement for the All Blacks to wear the mark on the jersey.”
According to the publication, the names or logos of only five corporate sponsors have appeared on the All Blacks jersey over the past 30 years: Canterbury of New Zealand, Steinlager, adidas, AIG and Altrad.
That is in stark contrast to many of the other nations, like South Africa, with the Springboks regularly changing their sponsors, most recently replacing telecoms giants MTN with FNB. Pick n Pay also features on the back of the jersey, whilst Blue Label Telecoms was infamously on the front of the jersey for just one year in 2016.
Difference with Rugby World Cups
While NZ Rugby officials have rejected adding the round patch this time around to protect the integrity of the jersey, the All Blacks kit has featured World Rugby and IRB logos in the past during Rugby World Cups – but in that case, it is part of the participation agreement for all teams.
In fact, in 2019, Handre Pollard was spotted donning the incorrect Springboks jersey during the quarter-final victory over Japan and SA Rugby had to clarify why that was the case.
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“A mix-up in supply led to the delivery of a small number of incorrectly branded jerseys by which point it was too late to source replacements,” a representative explained.
In the same match, lock Lood de Jager also donned a jersey without the official World Cup logo or the graphic of the Webb Ellis trophy on the right sleeve.
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