Players’ names will appear on the back of the Ireland Men’s match jerseys for the first time when Andy Farrell‘s side kick off their Bank of Ireland Nations Series campaign against Italy at Aviva Stadium this Saturday night.
It will be a first outing for the new Canterbury home match kit as preparations for the Rugby World Cup step up a gear.
Farrell’s side also face England at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday, 19th August before concluding the Bank of Ireland Nations Series against Samoa in Bayonne on Saturday, 26th August.
Over 40,000 tickets have been sold for the match which will also be shown live on RTÉ2 and the RTÉ Player on Saturday night.
Putting the names on the back of the jerseys is an idea that has been gaining traction in rugby. England and Scotland did it for the first time in this same Autumn series in 2022.
In football it was the Euro Finals on 1992 that saw them appear for the first time, followed up by the Premier League a season later. They were first used in sport by the Chicago White Sox in Baseball in the 1960’s
“As we count down towards the opening game of the Bank of Ireland Nations Series this Saturday, we’re excited to announce that players’ names will be on our new Canterbury match kit for the first time during this Series,” said IRFU Head of Commercial Jessica Long.
“We hope this will help further engage new audiences by increasing player recognition.”
The shirts on Saturday and throughout the Bank of Ireland Nations Series wil carry the Vodafone logo but they will be absent from the World Cup matches due to a ‘clean shirt’ policy adopted by World Rugby for the tournament.
The new Ireland match kit and training range is now exclusively available from Elverys.ie
