Playing Strip
Wales play in red jerseys (embroidered with the Prince of Wales's feathers), white shorts and red socks. Their change strip (also known as alternative strip) is black jerseys, shorts and socks although there have been various different coloured strips in the past. In international rugby union, the home team traditionally wears their change strip if there is a colour clash; hence the name change strip rather than away strip. The strip is currently made by Under Armour. The shirt sponsor is Cardiff based Insurance firm, Admiral. For the Rugby World Cup, however, the jersey is only allowed the national union's emblem, the Rugby World Cup logo, and the logo of the jersey's manufacturer on it.
The Prince of Wales' feathers were chosen in the 19th century by the WRU over another Welsh symbol, the leek, to demonstrate the nation's loyalty to Britain. In 1991, to enable the device to be trademarked, the original generic motif was replaced with a more stylised version. The original motto beneath the feathers was Ich dien (German for "I serve") but was replaced with WRU in the new version.
Wales wore black jerseys as part of celebrations for the WRU's 125th anniversary in 2005. The jersey was worn against Fiji and then Australia that year; the Australia match was the first time Wales had not played in their red jersey against one of their traditional rivals. Former change strips worn by Wales have included a green jersey with red collar and cuffs and white shorts, which was worn during the 1980s, most notably against Tonga and Canada in pool matches during the 1987 Rugby World Cup.
In 2011 Wales unveiled a new strip for the Rugby World Cup 2011 in New Zealand which saw them return to the black jersey permanently until 2013.
Read more about this topic: Wales National Rugby Union Team
Famous quotes containing the words playing and/or strip:
“Oh, somewhere in this favored land the sun is shining bright,
The band is playing somewhere, and somewhere hearts are light;
And somewhere men are laughing, and somewhere children shout,
But there is no joy in Mudville—Mighty Casey has struck
out.”
—Ernest Lawrence Thayer (1863–1940)
“The annals of this voracious beach! who could write them, unless it were a shipwrecked sailor? How many who have seen it have seen it only in the midst of danger and distress, the last strip of earth which their mortal eyes beheld. Think of the amount of suffering which a single strand had witnessed! The ancients would have represented it as a sea-monster with open jaws, more terrible than Scylla and Charybdis.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)