Blues, 1997

Blue, red and white, and with graphics that embraced Auckland’s moniker as the ‘city of sails’, the 1997 Blues jersey remains their greatest to date, even after 27 years.

In the second season of professional rugby in the southern hemisphere, the Blues not only strode out in the best design but also had the best players wearing it. All Black captain Sean Fitzpatrick, in his final year before retirement, was in their ranks, with Craig Dowd and Zinzan Brooke adding firepower in the pack. But it was Blues’ backline that drew the majority of the eyeballs - a young maverick ‘King’ Carlos Spencer wore the number 10 jersey, aided by the likes of Brian Lima, Joeli Virdiri and Jonah Lomu in the wide channels.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the Eden Park side were unbeatable in 1997, quite literally. Across the 13-game campaign they scored 435 points at an average of 39 a game on their way to a second successive Super 12 title, this time defeating the Brumbies by 23-7 in the final – interestingly, despite all their backline stars, it was tries from prop Craig Dowd and backrow Michael Jones that took them to victory that day.

The aesthetics of this jersey are timeless - the Canterbury Temex models remain heavily sought after today - but its connection to the glory days of Auckland rugby are what drives the connection fans have with it. In all the years since the Blues wore this strip, only one further Super Rugby title, in 2003, has filled their trophy cabinet. Despite a recent resurgence with a visit to the final in 2022, the Blues had to settle for runners up, losing 7-21 to the Crusaders at Eden Park.

Given this, it was an easy win when Classic Sportswear, the new Super Rugby jersey provider taking over from adidas after more than 25 years, made the decision to bring the design back as a throwback jersey for the 2024 season. Modern updates means that baggy cotton has not survived the 27 years, along with the classic Ford logo, but the spirit has certainly been retained, especially modelled by King Carlos himself. How often we’ll get to see it on the field has yet to been confirmed, but when it does appear it will undoubtedly bring together fans old and new.