How to Spot a Fake Irish Rugby Jersey

Unlike football jerseys, and the growing number of fake GAA jerseys, the amount of knock-off Irish rugby jersey aren’t as numerous and are often easy to identify visually. The number of knock-off Irish International jerseys are predominately home jerseys and we’ve yet to see any fakes that pre-date 2017. Here’s a breakdown season by season of what to look for.

2017/18 Season

Thankfully there aren’t many of these around and the colours on the fakes are much lighter than an authentic however it's easier to see this when side by side. The easiest way is to look at the wash label; The official wash label will have a red Canterbury logo while fakes look different with a black logo lower down on the label.

 

Wash Label on Official Jersey Vs Fake Jersey

2018/19 Season

The colours are a bit lighter on the fakes however it can be hard to spot unless, again, they are side by side with a genuine Canterbury jersey. The first thing you should look at is the Canterbury logo; if it’s embroidered it isn’t the real deal. The official Canterbury logo is printed. Second if you have one in your hand, or have the opportunity to see photos, you’ll see a difference in the wash label plus the ubiquitous pen mark on knock-offs. 

Embroidered Canterbury Logo

2019 to 2021 Seasons

There were six jerseys during these two seasons, when you include the 2019 Rugby World Cup home and away versions. What these all have in common is the strip of material that runs vertical on the back of the collar. If you see a continuous unbroken strip you’re looking at a fake. The strip on the authentic jerseys is broken into two parts by the horizontal stitching. For the Rugby World Cup jersey there’s also another tell-tale sign. On the fake the 2019 Rugby World Cup logo is embroidered while on the official jersey it’s printed.

Printed Vs Embroidered 2019 RWC Logo

Broken strip on official Canterbury Jersey

2023

With it being a World Cup year there was always going to be a flurry of fakes produced for all the major countries and Ireland was no different. The official jersey has the lighter green while the fakes have a darker colour, which is the opposite of past seasons when it was the other way around. As always look out for the red Canterbury logo on the wash label  and the pen mark on the wash label as sign of a fake.

Leinster & Munster Rugby Jerseys

What about fake Leinster and Munster jerseys you may ask? All official Munster rugby jerseys that pre-date the 2016/17 season had embroidered Adidas logos and everything since then have printed Adidas logos. The fakes since the 2016/17 season have continued to use embroidered Adidas logos.
Leinster entered into a contact with Adidas for the 2018/19 season so all fake Leinster Adidas jerseys will have embroidered Adidas logos while the authentic ones will have printed logos. Yet to see any fake Canterbury jerseys knocking around; thankfully!