Page 41 - All Shapes & Zebras From Treorchy

Yet perhaps to debate the visual aesthetics of the rugby jersey is to miss the point. Though clubs may invest in new sets of kit every few seasons or so as the sponsors change, the club crest on the front and the numbers on the back of them remain the same and symbolise the history of the club and players who have worn the jersey in the past. It is as if the club’s story is stitched into the fabric, the sweat of past players steeped within the collar.
The idea that as a current rugby player, you don’t own the shirt or playing number is commonplace in rugby union. This was a point brilliantly illustrated by Ian McGeehan on the 1997 Lions Tour. He made it clear to the players that they didn’t own the shirt: they were custodians of that number and would eventually pass it on to someone else. Of course, being a British and Irish Lion remains the pinnacle for a player from these Islands, but in all honesty, the same sentiment regarding shirt custodianship rings true in the amateur game.
Naturally – especially with player numbers dwindling in Wales – there’ll be players who are drafted in at short notice to play for a club – stopgaps, mercenaries, guns for hire, ringers – whatever you call them, they are essentially bodies to put on the pitch, and it cannot be expected of them to truly know what the jersey represents. The significance of the particular jersey in question may be lost on such players, and that’s okay.
“Itisasif
the club’s story is stitched into the fabric, the sweat of past players steeped within the collar. ”
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