It's All About the Jersey
A history of 20 years of Ospreys home shirts
‘It was 20 years ago today, Sergeant Pepper taught the band to play’…
The Beatles, of course. And those of us of a certain age, when we hear that line, instantly think of Sir Peter Blake’s incredible cover design of the Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band album, with its array of stars from Bob Dylan to Dylan Thomas, Marlon Brando to Marilyn Monroe, and Sonny Liston to Laurel and Hardy. But the image that really stands out from the iconic cover is of the multi-coloured uniforms of the Beatles…their kit, if you will.
You see, despite the brilliance of the music contained within the album, many believe that the imagery of the album cover was utterly integral to its ultimate success. And so it is with sport: seasons come and go, much like players and coaches, and the success of those players and coaches is often inextricably linked by the fans to what they wore.
Their kit.
Much like people can’t think of the Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper album without visualising the boys in their colourful uniforms, so Ospreys fans can’t think of Jerry Collins without the gold flashes on his black Ospreys jersey or Filo Tiatia marauding across the pitch, ball tucked under the arm of his black jersey with white piping and matching stripes. The kit matters, and the Ospreys have had plenty of iconic ones.
So, continuing the Beatles link, and with apologies to Lennon and McCartney: ‘It was 20 years ago today, when the Ospreys first began to play’.
To celebrate the 20th anniversary of the formation of the Ospreys back in 2003, I’ve been asked to take you on a trip down memory lane by doing a deep dive into the home kits worn by the likes of Gibbs and Gough, Henson and Hook, Tipuric and Terblanche, and so many others. I’ll be creating a sort of Ospreys fashionista timeline of home kit design, backed up by the players that wore them and the occasions they graced.
I hope you enjoy this light-hearted sartorial glance back at our home kit’s history. I wonder how many jerseys you remember, and more to the point, how many you might still have at the back of your cupboard? You never know, one or two might be worth a couple of quid by now!
2003-2004 Season
The first version of anything is always going to be a classic, and the first in the long line of Ospreys home kits certainly was. Worn for the first time on that warm evening of 5th September 2003, a lot of thought had gone into its design, and not without controversy, either. You don’t need me to remind you of the arguments back then: ‘What are we going to be called?’, Where are we going to play?’, ‘What colour will we wear?’, ‘What’s the badge going to look like?’.
As a born and bred Swansea boy, with a childhood of watching the All Whites at St Helens, it wouldn’t take Hercule Poirot to work out my answers to those questions were - ‘The Whites’; ‘’St Helen’s’; ‘White’; ‘An Osprey…and no Maltese cross, please’.
Arguments raged for months, but I must admit my opinion changed when I sat down with my pal and then work colleague and life-long Neath fan, Gary McKay. Gary had a similarly biased view to me, but very much from a Gnoll perspective. After a couple of hours of toing and froing, we understood a compromise was needed. Much in the way that the then board of the Ospreys clearly did. Which led to the birth of that first, now iconic, jersey.
I can still see it now. Coal black with a white granddad collar, four thin white stripes down the arms and two down each flank. The jersey had instant beauty in its simplicity. The design gained delight from the Neath faction, but not so much west of SA1, largely due to the proliferation of black.
But the badge was the real talking point. It was the classic compromise which didn’t really help in providing this new sporting entity with a matching new identity. As you’ll no doubt recall, the badge was fashioned from the classic, white Neath Maltese cross, with a golden clawed Swansea RFC Osprey embroidered over the top of it, above a legend which read, ‘Neath - Swansea Ospreys’.
It’s easy to be critical with 20 years of hindsight. A new brand required a new badge and maybe the seismic shock of creating new regions in Wales meant that a new brand would need to wait.
However, as anyone with a knowledge of the internal workings of the mind of elite sportspeople will know, whatever the issue, a positive mindset and an eye to the future is key. It certainly was the case for first Ospreys coach, Lyn Jones, who said of the badge: ‘it’s an ideal emblem for a forward thinking rugby team. It succeeds by a combination of style, skill and aggression, which is the way we want to play our rugby’. Wise words indeed from somebody tasked with bringing together previous rivals from all corners to gel as one.
And with a nod to the future successes of a united region, it’s interesting to note the combination that delivered the first try for the Ospreys in their new kit, worn in the 41-30 victory over Ulster at the Gnoll. It was a driving run by captain Scott Gibbs, previously of Swansea RFC in the season prior to regional rugby, who delivered the scoring pass to his new teammate in the centre, Dave Tiueti, latterly, of course, of Neath RFC.
New kit. Winning start. Hope for the future.
2004-2005 Season
A week is a long time in politics, we are told, and certainly a season is a long time in rugby kit design, judging by the changes for season two. The white grandad collar and inherently black colour remained, but gone was the large Air Wales chest advert, to be replaced by a quite subtle, white boxed JVH sponsors logo, and an overhaul of the white stripes.
In this new design, the nod to Swansea’s traditional white colour had seen the stripes of season one, morph into a sort of boxed design down the arms and flanks of the shirt. Quite a classy upgrade in most people’s view, with the internal white colouring of the Maltese cross being dropped to allow a more prominent visual of the overlaid, white Osprey. The lettering of ‘Ospreys’ was also made more prominent. Clearly, thought was being given to a badge that would come to define this new, exciting region.
There was improvement, too, on the pitch. The inaugural season had seen the Ospreys turned over on 10 occasions in the Celtic League. That number was reduced by well over a half to just 3 losses in this second season. Added to the 16 league wins and a draw (an exciting 27-all game against Glasgow Warriors) the 76 league points gained were more than enough to see captain Barry Williams lift the first silverware in Ospreys history, just reward for such a dominant season.
Ably supported by Gavin Henson’s league leading points scoring of 175, and Jason Spice’s useful contribution of 8 tries, the Ospreys were off and running in their never ending quest to become the leading rugby region in Wales.
2005-2006 Season
The dawning of season three saw the introduction of colour back into the design of the shirt. Gone were any white stripes or boxes, to be replaced by a very sleek, almost minimalist black design. White was also lost from the collar, now completely black, adorned by a couple of sponsors on either side.
The colour was provided by the new main kit sponsor of npower and their green and red legend across the middle of the shirt. KooGa - Made for Rugby, remained as the kit provider for a third season, still emblazoned on the right side of the chest, but for the third season in a row, a change to the badge. It was the same basic design as before, Ospreys above a black Maltese cross, but for the first time, ‘Neath-Swansea’ was dropped. We were now, officially, Ospreys.
Results on the field were mixed. A seventh place finish in the 11 team table was a result of 9 defeats set against 11 wins, very much a downturn on the many rampant displays of the previous season.
But there were two ‘newbies’ to celebrate that season, both occurring in the first game on September 4th, 2005. The first was the venue, the then ‘New Stadium Swansea’. It was the first outing at what would become the Ospreys new home, and a successful start it was, with a 22-20 win over a powerful Leinster side. The second newbie was a young buck coming off the bench to make his professional debut for the region. A tall, willowy second row, introduced to the fray of Celtic League action for the first time. His name? Alun Wyn Jones. Anyone know how his career panned out?
2006-2007 Season
If the 05-06 kit was a step forward in sleek design, the new 06-07 reveal could easily have been designed by Marty McFly, as it seemed very much like a case of ‘Back to the Future’.
Clearly inspired by the first two kits, the white striped piping down the arms returned, and in a clear homage to the smart, white boxed design of season two, this time the designers felt it appropriate to extend the boxes into horizontal lines across the whole jersey, front and back. I know it’s regarded as a popular kit as it saw success on the field, but in my humble view, it’s not in my top ten of classic Ospreys designs.
The success on the field was very real. The reclamation of the Celtic League title, now sponsored by Magners, would see a run of the Ospreys winning four trophies in the next six seasons. Any sports coach will tell you that strong leadership on the field is key to sporting success, and that was certainly proved by the Ospreys choice of captains in this league winning season.
In all matches in 2006-07, the side was captained by two front rowers. Duncan Jones who led the team in 19 games and Paul James who took control of the other 13 contests. Coach Lyn Jones chose his leaders well.
He wouldn’t have known back then, but his two on-field generals would rack up 455 Ospreys appearances between them. Jones’s 223 and James’s 232 would only be bettered by Alun Wyn’s incredible haul of 268 matches. Three genuine Ospreys legends spanning the first 20 seasons of the region.
2007-2008 Season
Now this shirt was more like it! I hesitate to say the design was ground breaking, but it was certainly the beginning of a new, vibrant approach to rugby jersey design. I think it marked the end of a traditional approach, and opened the doors to the many creative Ospreys jerseys that would appear in the coming years.
The colour was still provided by Npower’s green and red legend across the middle, but introduced for the first time were two sleek silver bands, running down from the armpits before swerving inwards like a Formula One chicane, to taper at the waist. Now, if you possessed snake hips like James Hook or 2007-08 debutants, Dan Biggar or Rhys Webb, then all your Christmases had come at once, but if you were more of a - how can I say this? - a rotund built front row forward then maybe Christmas hadn’t come early for you at all!
However, the real change was the badge. It was our first introduction to the iconic Ospreys mask. Again, I remember the controversy around it. The Maltese cross was gone forever, which upset the staunch Neath fans, and the rest of the region couldn’t really see what the ‘mask’ had to do with rugby.
But I loved it!
I really think that a new badge had been needed to positively cement the identity of the new region, and hindsight tells us that this badge was the right one. Kudos, too, to the designer who moved away from the tradition of a single club logo and decided to introduce a large, offset, more flowing logo, high on the opposite side of the shirt. It was a really ground-breaking design.
On the field, things were pretty ground-breaking, too. Despite an underwhelming Celtic League season, the Anglo Welsh Cup, sponsored by EDF Energy, would see the Ospreys deliver their next piece of silverware. Having brushed aside Worcester, London Irish and Harlequins in the group stage, scoring an incredible 117 points, the form continued in the semi finals with a Shane Williams inspired 30-3 win over Saracens at a Millennium Stadium double header. In the other semi final, Leicester’s all-star Tigers comfortably saw off London Wasps and were no doubt confidently looking forward to yet another successful Twickenham final.
But maybe they hadn’t really understood the power of the back row they’d be facing. Led by skipper, Ryan Jones and backed up by Marty Holah and the irrepressible Filo Tiatia, there aren’t many teams that could’ve withstood those three running rampage in a Cup Final. Leicester certainly couldn’t. With tries scored by Andrew Bishop and a rare AWJ touchdown, it was left to the accurate boot of James Hook to deliver the spoils with five kicks, avenging the previous season’s loss to the same opponents and writing the name Ospreys as the first Welsh winners of what was ostensibly English club rugby’s most prestigious cup, in its 37th season.
2008-2009 Season
The dam of creativity was really broken for this season’s home shirt offering. A brand new look which combined a proud Celtic history with a modern, minimalist style and harked back a little to the impact of the classy 2005/06 shirt.
The starting point was a sheeny (might have invented a new word, there) black background, in an extremely figure hugging cut, that was overlaid with some great Celtic designs. On the lower left area was a fantastic, red, circular axe-like Celtic design, with a smaller version on the top right shoulder.
The panel on the right underarm flank, appeared first to be a smaller Celtic design, sympathetic to the larger, red design opposite. But on further inspection, it was made up of hundreds of mini Osprey masks, that resembled chain-mail, adding to the warrior effect. This remains one of the favourite designs of the discerning Ospreys fan, and I can’t disagree with that.
Despite this creative looking kit, success on the field didn’t follow. Another excellent group stage in the Anglo Welsh Cup saw the Ospreys head to the semi-finals yet again, but a rather lack-lustre performance in the semi-final against Gloucester at Coventry’s Ricoh Arena saw the Ospreys fail to make the final for the first time in three seasons.
There was improvement in the Celtic League, with a fourth place finish the reward for an impressive 11 wins out of 18 matches, but disappointment again in Europe with a resounding quarter final defeat to Munster ending hopes after what had been a very solid pool stage. In the end, it was a season that showed much promise for new coach, Sean Holley, who would’ve been pleased by the emergence of a player he gave a debut to: Ospreys great of the future, Scott Baldwin.
2009-2010 Season
And so begins the controversy! Who’s idea was the gold? On the field it would be another great year in what was the middle of a real golden era in Ospreys history, so there’s your clue. But I’m not sure you could get further away from last season’s classy, well thought out tribute to Welsh history than this one with its swathes of gold across the shirt. As you can probably tell, I wasn’t a big fan.
An almost non existent collar with a gold slash across the top of the chest and two, curved, snake-like slashes on either flank…even the Osprey mask was gold. It was definitely a case of all working out in the end, though, as a third victory in the Celtic League proved. With Jerry Collins added to the marauding ‘golden’ back row of Jones and Holah, success on the field certainly raised the shirt to an iconic one in the history of Osprey shirts, even if it was a big departure on all that had come before!
Interestingly, this third League win by the Ospreys was the first in the League’s history to be decided by play-offs. The top four in the table at the end of the regular season would play semi-finals and a final to reveal the champions. After brushing aside Glasgow Warriors in the semis, Ospreys headed into the lion’s den at the RDS Arena in Dublin, very much as underdogs. Following a pulsating encounter, the Ospreys triumphed thanks to scoring contributions from the the three B’s - Bowe and Byrne with the tries, Biggar with the kicks - meaning the Ospreys became the first team in history to win the Celtic League on three occasions.
2010-2011 Season
I’ve never really been able to separate my purples from my mauves and my violets. But whatever it was, one of those colours was a very welcome addition to this season’s offering and a move away from…dare I say it…the gaudiness of the gold shirt.
Lovely, classy, sleek (there’s that word again), across the shoulders and flanks, the pop of colour contrasted very nicely with the bold, white RWE legend across the chest. But it was the almost hidden, subtle hexagon or honeycomb design across the chest and down the sides that I liked. The hexagon is one of the most important shapes that occurs in the natural world, and whoever designed this shirt clearly used that shape in an extremely effective way.
Talking of the natural world, there probably hasn’t been a more naturally talented player to grace the Ospreys jersey than James Hook. The 2010-11 season was to be the last for Hook, before moving to pastures new in France.
The emergence of Dan Biggar had seen Hook moved more into the centre, and the move to France offered the chance of more time in his favoured No 10 jersey. Moving across the channel with Hook would be two other members of the Fab Four - Lee Byrne and Mike Phillips. Despite Shane Williams remaining, there was a definite end of an era feeling as thoughts turned toward the Rugby World Cup.
2011-2012 Season
What was that I said about hexagons being an important shape? Well, they clearly were to the designer as they were pretty much kept in tact for the new season. Whereas up to this point each new shirt was often quite different to the previous season’s offering, this one was more of a subtle upgrade to the 2010-11 offering.
The purple/mauve/violet was replaced by a blue/turquoise/indigo colour and a thinning out of the slashes and side panels. Not much change, but a popular kit nonetheless.
Despite the loss of three of the Fab Four, it was the Glanamman One who would deliver coach Steven Tandy what was to become the Ospreys’ final piece of silverware for ten years. A runners- up spot in the League season (now christened the RaboDirect Pro12) to Leinster saw the Ospreys travel again to deepest Dublin to take on the red hot home favourites.
In what was the most thrilling of all Grand Finals to date, Shane Williams brought his magic feet to Ireland, delivering two second half tries to help the Ospreys to a 30-31 victory. A historic fourth League title for the Ospreys!
2012-2013 Season
Mike Tyson. Remember him? When he burst onto the scene as a 18-year-old, it was all about simplicity. Short black boots, short black shorts, knock people out within seconds, and move on. Simple. When quizzed about in later life, he alluded to the inspiration of Spartan warriors of the past. No colour, no razzle and certainly no dazzle, just plain, brutal, simple efficiency. Which, from a distance, basically describes this season’s kit.
Bar the thin, white piping toward the shoulders and the obligatory sponsors, this plain, black, simple kit would’ve got the approval of Iron Mike. However, what Mike would have missed from his seat in the stand was the designers tribute to the ‘tribes’ that made up the Ospreys modern day version of Sparta. Because subtly printed in a variety of fonts all over the front of the shirt were the names of the 77 local clubs that comprise the Ospreys region. A very classy nod to the history created by the Ospreys in this, their tenth season as a region.
Following the recent departures of Shane Williams and Sonny Parker after the Grand Final win in Dublin, this season also saw a farewell to two other Golden Era stalwarts, namely Jonathan Thomas and Ian Gough. Both men had very much been the engine room of the Ospreys success over the previous ten years as their respective 188 and 119 appearances suggest. Another two players who now happily reside in the Ospreys pantheon of legends.
2013-2014 Season
Same horse, different jockey. That’s certainly a phrase that could be used to talk about the differences in this season’s shirt. The white shoulder piping replaced by orangey-copper piping (or should that be coppery-orange?) and the subtle reference to the region’s feeder clubs was replaced by a subtle reference to our Celtic history, no doubt borrowing an idea from the 2008/09 season’s shirt. A very underrated shirt in my view, quite classy and thoughtful, but was never really sure of the orange…or copper.
For the second successive season, the Ospreys finished in 5th position in the league, just below the play-offs, but they did have a record-breaking victory to celebrate. They finished the season as the highest try scorers in the league with 59, thanks in no small part to the events of Sunday 16th February 2014. Nobody would argue that Benetton Treviso were the strongest of teams, but similarly, nobody would predicted an 11 try victory (also a record) in the 75-7 mauling of the unfortunate Italians.
For the record, the try scorers were: Sam Davies (2 - his first for the region), skipper Jonathan Spratt (2), Rhys Webb, Aisea Natoga, Jeff Hassler, Ashley Beck, Dan Baker, Hanno Dirksen and Ryan Jones. Not a bad day at the office at all.
2014-2015 Season
Big changes. I mean BIG changes. After eleven seasons, the name Kooga on an Ospreys shirt was no more. Whether the powers that be like it or not, fans have a particular way of referring to their sports kits. It can be, ‘the gold kit’, ‘the Npower kit’, ‘the Umbro kit’ and so on. But because we live in a world of corporate sponsorship, understandably, sports organisations, their sponsors and their kit suppliers will never refer back to former partners, for fear of offending their current partners.
As I say, completely, understandable. But fans don’t live in that world. They live in a world of an overarching history of their chosen sporting club.
So, I can’t mention the kit of the 2014-15 season without referring to it as the first season of the BLK BT Sport kit. Whilst remaining black in essence, the interlocking brick design (technical design term…maybe) of the front gave the shirt a bit of a purple hue. Along with the tiger style striping and flashing on the shoulders and arms, this was certainly a modern design, and maybe not one for the purists. Bit was certainly fashionable and vibrant and became a talking point amongst fans.
The disappointment of winning just a single game in both the European Rugby Champions Cup and the LV Anglo English Cup was tempered by a strong performance in the Guinness Pro12. A third place finish, just a point behind League winners Glasgow Warriors, saw the Ospreys travel to Thomond Park to face Munster. Despite trailing 16-3 just after the break, Dan Biggar’s boot and tries from Rhys Webb and Jeff Hassler, brought the Ospreys within touching distance, before TV match official, Gareth Simmonds, broke the hearts of the Ospreys travelling faithful.
Spotting an earlier knock-on by Rhys Webb at the base of a ruck, Simmonds passed the information on to Nigel Owens, who ruled out Josh Matavesi’s last minute try, meaning it was Munster and not the Ospreys who would make it to the season’s final curtain call. A disappointing end to an excellent league campaign.
2015-2016 Season
Batman. Nobody saw that one coming, not even The Caped Crusader himself! Only worn twice this season, this shirt has to take centre stage in my report. Thanks to a hook-up between kit providers, BLK and DC Comics, the ‘Batjersey’ was created for charitable purposes.
Based on the batsuit design made famous in various iterations of one of Hollywood’s most loved crime fighters and with a large bat sitting proudly above the Ospreys mask logo, this iconic shirt was worn in the games against Cardiff Blues on 28 November and again on New Year’s Day in the Welsh derby against the Dragons.
Cardiff were dispatched easily enough by 13 points to 6, and come New Year’s Day, Alun Wyn led his team of superheroes out aware that they’d not lost to a fellow Welsh region at the Swansea.com Stadium since 2010. Tries by former Dragon, Dan Evans, followed by more of a Superman style dive than Batman by Hanno Dirksen, saw the Ospreys build a lead that they wouldn’t surrender.
At the end of the game, the shirts were auctioned off for charity and then retired with a 100% winning record. Well, what would you expect from one of the all-time great superheroes? Batman was certainly no joker. (Sorry, just couldn’t resist it).
2016-2017 Season
Everyone loves a bit of colour, and if one player typifies this season’s kit, it has to be Justin Tipuric. With his ever present Trebanos blue scrum cap, it really added to the splashes of colour provided by the purple, green and yellow contained within the BT Sport logo, and the almost tie-dyed combination of turquoise, green and yellow of the collars and cuffs of this one. It was also set off by another clever back design of a giant Ospreys mask overlaying hundreds of mini ones hidden amongst the predominant black front of the shirt. A clever and classy design.
Another semi-final play off was delivered in the Guinness Pro 12, finishing fourth in the table behind Munster, Leinster and the Scarlets. Another trip to Thomond Park was a step too far, sadly, outclassed in a 23-3 defeat, with the sole points coming from an 8th minute Dan Biggar penalty.
It was also a tale of what might have been in the Anglo-Welsh Cup. Despite tying on points with pool winners Exeter Chiefs following impressive wins over Cardiff, Bristol and Wasps, it was ultimately the narrow 12-15 defeat at home to Harlequins that delivered a dent that couldn’t be repaired. Ospreys failed to progress to the semi-finals by the narrowest of margins.
And continuing the ‘oh so close, but no cigar’ theme: in the Ospreys’ first appearance in the European Rugby Challenge Cup a resounding group performance saw them win all six games and Steve Tandy’s side progressed to entertain Stade Francais in the quarter-finals at the Principality Stadium. Most onlookers felt it was a game the Ospreys should’ve won, yet despite tries from Josh Matavesi and Tyler Ardron, along with 13 points from the boot of Dan Biggar, it was two tries in 5 minutes from the 14 man Stade that would, ultimately, confirm a frustrating season for the Ospreys faithful.
2017-2018 Season
If the 16/17 shirt was classy, then the 17/18 one was classic. Not quite Spartan (although the rugby loving Scottish Spartan himself, Gerard Butler would have been happy with it!) this season’s offering was classic, classy and subtle…a designer’s dream. There was a new kit supplier, Canterbury, and their white kiwis complemented our white Osprey perfectly. There were two interesting white flashes emanating from the collar and combining with an almost futuristic white design on the arms, providing an interesting and almost captain’s armband aesthetic. Subtle echoes of the 2004/05 perhaps. No bad thing, that.
A bit of a turbulent season on the field saw coach Steve Tandy’s, long association with the region come to an in January following a run of just 7 victories in 21 games in all competitions. Tandy, a local Tonmawr boy, had graced the field as a combative flanker for the region in over a hundred games, before six seasons as head coach, taking over from Sean Holley midway through the 2011-12 season.
Rugby is no different to any professional sport in that it’s a results driven business, but it’s always sad to see a local boy go, much as it was for another familiar, local face to make his exit. After 225 games, it was time for another Osprey to spread his wings as Dan Biggar left for pastures new in Northampton. I thinks it’s fair to say, he continued to fly!
2018-2019 Season
Much like the 2011-12 shirt was a subtle upgrade on it’s previous season’s offering, so the 18-19 shirt was perhaps best described as an evolution on the previous shirt.
The strong, white collar flashes were retained, but now more in a circular - dare I say it? - more soccer style affair. The interesting white sleeve lines were transferred across the whole of the body of the shirt, and for the first time ever, the sleeves were all white. Added in for good effect and to match that season’s main front of shirt sponsor were a couple of turquoise flashes along the shoulder. And the evolution would continue in 2019-20…
As would the team evolution. In sport, for teams to evolve, there have to be departures, and 2018-19 saw two real stalwarts and a very underrated half-back pairing leave the region. Tom Habberfield and Sam Davies had delivered 285 appearances between them, 135 and 150 respectively. Debuting for the region as 20 and 19 year olds, they both epitomised the almost amateur era ethos of being ‘loyal club men’ and consistently delivered for the region, often in the shadow of other star names who can be afforded more of the spotlight where the media are concerned. Players like Tom and Sam should never be underestimated, and these two loyal servants certainly weren’t by the Ospreys faithful.
2019-2020 Season
Subtle is defined as follows: ‘a change so delicate or precise as to be difficult to analyse or describe’. Well that’s it for 2019-20, really! A slight bolding of the white lines around the body of the shirt…and that was it. That season’s designer was certainly a graduate of the, ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’, school of design and as beauty is always in the eye of the beholder, it’s hard to argue with that.
This season is maybe best described as ‘the Covid season’. The disruption caused by the pandemic touched almost everyone, and obviously, professional rugby wasn’t immune to that. Nobody really knows the level to which it affected players, but it’s clear that the 2019-20 season was one to forget on the field, with the Ospreys finishing winless in the Heineken Champions Cup and bottom of their Conference in the Guinness PRO14, running out winners just twice.
A difficult season for all, and one that everyone was pleased to see the back of. Apart from maybe one person: James Hook. After returning to the region in 2017, Hook had hoped that 2020 would be his swan-song, and he was keen to round things off by joining the 150 club of Ospreys appearances. But unfortunately, the pandemic saw that it would be 149 and out for one the most gifted players of his generation. A pivotal part of the Ospreys golden era of the 2000’s that saw him become a quarter of the ‘Fab Four’, Hook left his career on the field to great acclaim. He then sent everyone a curve ball by becoming an award-winning author of children’s books alongside a fellow Swansea author who’s name escapes me for the moment…
2020-2021 Season
In terms of evolution, we’ve now jumped forward a couple of thousand years! Gone are the white sleeves, replaced by black. Gone was the round soccer collar, replaced by a silver v-neck. And gone were the white lines, replaced by a very futuristic take on the Ospreys mask, with what was quoted as a ‘black blood swirl design of the Ospreys mask’. After a couple of seasons of, dare I say it, playing it safe, the kit designers were back with a bang and delivered what was a truly eye catching and dynamic design.
This season saw the first full term under the stewardship of Toby Booth. A very welcome addition to the coaching set up of the region, a forward-thinking rugby man with a very honest and professional approach to the game: a great appointment.
It was another season of Covid disruption with complicated rescheduling of the PRO14, the introduction of the PRO14 Rainbow Cup and another Covid inspired re-jigging of the European Rugby Challenge Cup. The upshot of the season was a very ‘mid-table’ outcome of 12 wins and 11 defeats. It was also a season of goodbyes to three 100 plus cap men, as James King, Hanno Dirksen and the irrepressible Scott Otten all trod the Swansea.com Stadium grass for the last time. A combined appearance total of 467 underlines the importance of the commitment to the cause of these Ospreys legends.
2021-2022 Season
I can’t return to Sparta or Iron Mike Tyson for this one, this kit is even too simplistic for them…yet I absolutely love this one! Instead, I’m going to channel my inner Angus Young and AC/DC.
Back. In. Black.
It was the season debut for Umbro and the simple power afforded by the deluge of black, only disturbed by the various logos, gave this iteration of Osprey’s jersey an instant strength in my view. It gave an powerful statement, no mucking about, we’re here and we’re here to play. Simple as that.
What wasn’t as simple was the new format of the United Rugby Championship, the latest iteration of what had began as the Celtic League. When the Celtic League was founded 21 years earlier, there were two pools of 7 and 8 teams respectively, the top four in each pool played off in continuing knock out stages until the winner was found in the final. This season, there were five nations represented: Wales, Scotland, Ireland, Italy and South Africa. These were then split into Regional Shield Pools, along with an overall league table which would determine the play-off contenders and eventual Champions.
This meant that you could win your Regional Shield Pool - which the Ospreys did, becoming the inaugural Welsh Shield Champions - but also fail to qualify for the overall league play-offs…which the Ospreys also did. At least their 9th place finish in the overall standings gave the Ospreys European rugby for the 2022-23 season.
2022-2023 Season
Another season of evolution, but without losing the powerful statement set down by last year’s design of simplicity.
Designed with input by Ospreys players and staff, the round collar morphed to V-neck, copper flashes on sleeve ends and an introduction of the fine lines of an Osprey bird overlayed on the front. This layered approach for the graphic, together with the outlines of the Osprey mask, created quite a unique design. An instant classic.
After what could only really be described as a disappointing domestic season in the BKT United Rugby Championship, evidenced by their final position of 13th in the table, it was the performances in Europe by Toby Booth’s men that really lit the blue touch paper for a while.
Despite a narrow defeat in the first home game against Leicester, marred by George North’s fractured cheekbone, it was the match the following weekend that really lifted Ospreys supporters spirits.
Most independent observers would have already written off Ospreys hopes as they ran out onto the field at the GGL Stadium in Montpellier, but just 80 minutes later, these same observers would be eating their words. In what was surely Toby Booth’s team’s best performance since his arrival, tries by Sam Parry, Kieran Williams and Morgan Morris gave the Ospreys a famous victory.
Another win against Montpellier at home and then, against Leicester: an astonishing 92nd minute winning conversion by Owen Williams of Jac Morgan’s impossibly late try, silenced the Welford Road faithful to send the Ospreys charging into the knock out rounds. Sadly, tries by Michael Collins and Keiran Williams weren’t enough to defeat Saracens in a tough away encounter that saw Ospreys ahead at the break.
Success in Europe would have to wait another year.
2023-2024 Season
So, like the Ghost of Christmas Past, we reach the end of my glance back through the catalogue of home kit designs. My first question has to be, how on earth do these designers manage to do so much with what is essentially a black rugby jersey? But in fairness, I think they’ve done it again.
With the arrival of Macron as kit supplier, they’ve gone for what I see as another strong design. The popular V-neck is retained, with blue edges and white detailing and the same colour replicated on the sleeve cuffs. Two graphic themes represent the club’s 20-year history. On the sleeves and shoulders there is an embossed pattern with the team’s logo design and on the lower front is the grey sublimation-printed design of the Ospreys first crest and below, the words “Est. 2003”, the year the region was founded. The perfect jersey for this important anniversary season. Let’s hope it brings us luck and good fortune as Toby Booth’s men head into 2024.
So that’s it. I started with reference to the iconic design of The Beatles’, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band album, and that’s where I’ll end.
There’s two lines in the title song that John and Paul wrote, as follows: ‘They’ve been going in and out of style,
But they’re guaranteed to raise a smile’, and that sums up the history of the Ospreys’ home jerseys for me.
We’ll all have our favourites, the same as we’ll all have the ones we weren’t so enamoured by. But coupled with the many legends who have worn this array of shirts with pride, along with the memories of 20 years of endeavour that have, quite literally, seen these shirts end up on the changing room floor covered in blood, sweat and tears, I truly hope that this article and any of your own personal memories it might have stirred, have managed to raise a festive smile.
By David Brayley
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