KooGa Rugby and the history of the Wallabies rugby jersey

On Australia Day 2010, KooGa Rugby, with the help of current Wallabies Matt Giteau, Benn Robinson and Berrick Barnes, launched their new Wallabies rugby shirt. In doing so, KooGa began to contribute to rugby history dating back to 1899, when Australia played their first series in 1899.

In this edition of the jersey, KooGa has retained the traditional green and gold of the Wallabies, although green is a bit less prevalent in this edition. When the Wallabies played that first series, their jersey was actually blue or red and had a predominant coat of arms. After World War I, Queensland took a break, and Australia was represented solely by New South Wales in the trials. When they were combined again in 1929, Australia was finally represented in its current colours, green and gold.

There have been some exceptions to avoid color clashes with opposing teams. For example, in 1933 Australia reverted to blue to play the Springboks, and to white with a bit of green and gold to play the All Blacks in 1938.

While the new color scheme on KooGa’s rugby jersey stays true to the green and gold tradition, which began in 1929, that’s where the similarities to those historic jerseys end. As the chief executive of the Australian Rugby Union said at the launch: “Obviously the Wallabies jumper of that era is a long way from where we are today with state-of-the-art body-hugging, temperature-controlling garments, but the Wallaby Gold remains consistent.”

This has been a trend for all international rugby-playing countries, and the body-hugging style of rugby shirts first showed off en masse at the 2003 World Cup. This has seen a change in appearance, if not in colour, then from the famous shirts worn by England, Ireland and the All Blacks. All wear their traditional colors of white, green and black respectively, but all have moved away from the baggy, thick cotton, collared T-shirts of the past.

Technology has continued to improve since that World Cup, in which rugby jerseys, particularly Adidas’ new All Blacks jerseys, fell apart. This latest installment from KooGa Rugby is described as “bulletproof” and “virtually indestructible”, even with materials like hydrosteel and carbon fiber. They also control light and body temperature, which has become standard in professional rugby jerseys. In every way certainly a far cry from the early international Australian rugby shirts first worn in 1899.