Wardrobe Malfunctions in the ITM Cup
4As any woman will tell you, one of the biggest social nightmares is when you dress up for a special event, only to find someone else wearing the same outfit. Especially when that someone else happens to be a rival.
Well there has been a fair bit of this going on in this season’s ITM Cup, and there has been a conspicuous lack of effort going in to avoiding it.
Take yesterday’s Hawkes Bay v North Harbour match for example. Settle down for a bit of afternoon rugby, and what did we get? An almost identical mish-mash of black & whiteness across our games, rendering the match almost unwatchable.
Look; a try. But who’s scored it, and is there anyone tackling a teammate?
Hard to tell.
So let’s look at it from the other angle…
You can’t brush this off as being a financially driven decision. Both Manawatu and Otago have worn specially commissioned jerseys this season, and they are hardly overly flush.
It doesn’t end there, let’s look at some Counties – Manakau v North Harbour confusion.
Then, adding multi-colour there was the Bay of Plenty v Taranaki. At least they had the decency to wear contrasting shirts, but that is pretty tough on the eyes.
And again.
A plea to the NZRU and its provinces. The NPC has been marginalised enough over recent years; squeezed into a corner by an increasingly bloated Super Rugby competition. So, for the sake of the long-suffering fans, please ensure the teams are distinguishable in the future. It really shouldn’t be that hard.
Thanks to Ryan’s Rovers, BOP Mafia and Stubblenz for assistance in sourcing these camouflage pictures