Replica 1905 All Blacks jersey donated to Welsh club

In a gesture of international goodwill a replica rugby jersey made from the same material and mill that crafted the original jerseys for the 1905 All Blacks, has been gifted to a Welsh rugby club.

The jersey is one of several made by fashion designers from the University’s College of Creative Arts in a joint project with Manawatu Knitting Mills, after the originals were deemed too delicate and aging beyond their years. The replica jerseys were donated for display to the New Zealand Rugby Museum in Palmerston North to coincide with last year’s Rugby World Cup.

Coinciding with the manufacture and display of the replica jerseys, financial pressures were forcing Welsh club Carmarthenshire’s Tycroes to sell of one of the eight original jerseys from the 1905 tour.

Tina Downes, from the University’s Institute of design for industry and Environment, saw a story about the club’s plight on New Zealand television and suggested it be replaced with one of the replicas she designed.

So the University bought back one of the shirts it had given to the New Zealand Rugby Museum and last week Ms Downes made the trip to the United Kingdom to present it.

“I was coming to the UK anyway, to Twickenham, which had bought one of the jerseys, so I came up to Tycoes after that,” she told Welsh newspaper the Carmarthen Journal. “I had a great few days here – it is such a great community and we were so happy that one of our jerseys is here.”