A very Scottish tale

If you have read my past posts (and let’s face it there may be only one or two that have, cheers Nan) you will recall my love for last seasons Scottish playing stash, and my new affection for the new sevens range.
About a week ago the 15 a side strips were revealed. In my view it was always going to be hard to improve on what Macron achieved a year ago, but they gave it one hell of a try.

What’s the saying? If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

No wonder the boys look so happy, those shirts are nothing short of fantastic.
Granted, they aren’t a million miles removed from last years design but that is ok. A classic and what could start to be an iconic design for the Scots is exactly what is needed. Take the all blacks for example, the only two bigt visual changes they have made in the past four years is removing the white collar and making everything that isn’t black on the jersey, the darkest grey they can get away with.

The home shirt
At first glance it would appear that the home shirt is pretty much a carbon copy of last years effort. The internal tartan lining is still present, hallelujah. Other than that it would seem the changes are minimal at best. But wait, a super cool tartan grippy thing on the back you say? Well let’s feast our eyes on this wonder my brothers.

So we have the tartan all over the back now, and it looks pretty good. I’m sure there will be some technical reason for this, more grip for the forwards maybe? As a stand alone design element it’s subtly striking.

One thing that sticks out for me, and I’m not a huge fan on is the new Harry Hill inspired collar. The blue one was so nice, why change it? Why?
There is also a not so subtle white flash across the shoulders, maybe its to tie in the collar. Either way it’s not really needed.

All in all though, this is definitely a good effort from Macron and Scottish rugby. It could well be the best of the home nations shirts, again.

The alternate shirt
You are guaranteed to see the Scotland alternate kit at least once in it’s reign, so it is important that they have a stellar showing to match up with the home attire.

They may have seen the hand, gone all in and taken all the winnings with this one.
The alternate shirt is traditionally where you can be more expressive and sometimes flamboyant with the design. Scotland have tried at this in the past and failed miserably. This is no failure, this is an unbridled success.

Again, Macron pretty much shot themselves in the foot with how great last years shirt was. It was a beautiful piece that displayed the pride of a rugby nation.

This year, they have developed it and pushed forward. They have refined the collar, so it no longer has the bold tartan on the outer. A navy blue collar gives the shirt refinement and class.
Deep purple and green bars surround the cuffs of the shirt. The close knit banding of these lines creates a link to the sevens jerseys and brings Scotland rugby together visually.
The thin navy lines running across the shirt are carried to the socks, again refreshing the design of last years stash.

The new home and away kits for Scotland are nothing short of a class act. They reflect what Scotland's brand is and should be.

There is one piece of stash in this line up that we will see in every Scotland game, home or away.
Once I saw it I cursed Canterbury for what imagine they will do for England.
The pre-game jacket.

This could be the very best piece of stash produced for Scotland this season. It’s the combination of the deep purple banding across the chest meeting with the tartan falsh to make yet another nod to the heritage of a proud nation.

Let’s just hope that Scottish rugby continues the way it has been going for the past two years and at least does this stash justice.

What else can Macron do? We’ll see what Northampton have to offer.