VIDEO: England captain happy with new Arsenal-style kit

Harlequins' Chris Robshaw (second right) with other England rugby captains Katy McLean (second left), Rob Vickerman (left) and Michaela Staniford (right) during the kit launch at Drybrook Rugby Club. Photo credit: Davud Davies/PA wire

Thursday, September 20, 2012
2:10 PM

Chris Robshaw is happy that England’s new kit is similar to one once worn by his beloved Arsenal Football Club.

The Harlequins and Red Rose captain unveiled the national side’s new Canterbury home kit yesterday, which features a return of the traditional navy socks for the first time since 2007.

It’s the change kit that took Robshaw’s fancy however as it is almost identical to the redcurrant kit Arsenal wore in the 2005-06 season to mark their final campaign at Highbury.

“The colour schemes are quite similar and being an Arsenal fan I don’t really mind that. It’s brilliant,” Robshaw said.

England will wear the white kit against Fiji on November 7 and debut the change strip - officially dubbed “regal purple” - against Australia at Twickenham on November 17.

Canterbury have replaced Nike as England’s kit supplier after they struck a four-year deal with the Rugby Football Union reportedly worth £20million.

Apart from making them look like Arsenal, Robshaw hopes the new kit - which is meant to be ‘unrippable’ - will offer England a competitive advantage.

“They talked about this sort of thing a lot in cycling during the Olympics,” he added. “(GB Cycling performance director) Dave Brailsford spoke a lot about the tiny percentage gains which add up to a big difference.

“That works out to a split-second here or there. These little things make the bigger picture better.”