Heritage meets innovation as Canterbury unveil the new England Rugby shirt

Aug 10 • General News, International • 1597 Views • Comments Off on Heritage meets innovation as Canterbury unveil the new England Rugby shirt

Shirt reveal launches Canterbury’s ‘Only the Committed’ campaign | England Rugby women’s kit unveiled for the first time

England Captain Dylan Hartley, alongside fellow internationals today unveiled the new England Rugby 2016/2017 home kit from Canterbury at Twickenham Stadium.

As part of the launch England players Maro Itoje, Mike Brown and George Kruis were on hand to unveil the new shirt. The new kit identifies the heritage of the game, with the neckline feature taking inspiration from England Rugby’s first ever jersey worn in 1871.

The 3D rose placed on an individual patch acknowledges the tradition from 1871-1919 when new England players would embroider an individual rose onto their shirt, before it was said to be standardised by Alfred Wright in 1920.

For the first time a new custom fit women’s home kit was launched by England Women players Rochelle Clark, Lydia Thompson and Vicky Fleetwood. The new kit, specifically designed to meet to the physical requirements of female athletes, will be worn for the new season as well as the Women’s Rugby World Cup campaign next summer in Ireland which England Women are current title holders of.

The home kit features a range of innovations that have been developed by Canterbury to improve the look and feel for both players and fans alike. The shirt continues to feature reduced fabrication weight to minimise moisture absorption, a 3D injection moulded crest and a super-enhanced fit technology, developed from player position-specific 3D body-mapping.

Speaking about the new shirt, England Head Coach Eddie Jones said; “We’re always striving to improve every area of our preparation and performance so it’s great to work with an innovative brand like Canterbury who share our philosophy.

“Since starting as England head coach I have been impressed with Canterbury’s attention to detail and their commitment to working alongside the team to ensure the best possible match day kit and training apparel. The new strip looks good, but most importantly supports our needs as a team to help our performances to be world class.”

Discussing the launch of the new England Rugby shirt, Canterbury CEO, Chris Stephenson, said; “The new England shirt demonstrates Canterbury’s unwavering commitment to England Rugby. We’re devoted to delivering the latest innovation and developing a rugby kit that not only suits the needs of players at the elite level of the game, but also the committed fans across the country who make a huge contribution to the success of the team.”

Over the past seven days, Canterbury and England Rugby have teased fans with various glimpses of the innovation in the shirt through Facebook and Twitter before revealing the full kit in an exclusive Facebook Live earlier today. As well as unveiling the shirt for the first time, players took those watching on a special behind the scenes tour of Twickenham Stadium showing different areas of the stadium including the gym, home changing room and tunnel.

To mark the launch Hartley, Mike Brown and James Haskell have provided an insight into their individual rugby stories, showing the commitments they’ve made for the game and the challenges they have faced to become an England player. Fans can watch their inspirational stories in Canterbury’s ‘Only the Committed’ campaign film online and within selected retailers nationwide.

The new England Rugby shirt from Canterbury is available on pre-sale from 6.00pm tonight and available in stores from the 19th August, as well as at Canterbury.com and EnglandRugbyStore.com