In a world where buying a pair of plain black rugby boots seems to be the exception rather than the norm, where do you stand on the ‘in your face’ design of a many modern rugby boots?
Love them or loathe them, colourful boots have steadily made big in-roads over the last few years and the trend doesn’t seem to be slowing down this year. I checked out some of the more colourful offerings from the main boot suppliers.
adidas
l-r : adidas Predator RX XTRX SG, Predator Absolion TRX FG, RS7 Pro red & green
adidas Predator RX XTRX SG
adidas seem to be leading the charge at the minute with a pretty convincing range of bling for your feet. Top of the heap is the new Predator RX XTRX SG rugby boot in white & metallic gold. Built on a last suited to rugby players feet [wider than a football boot], adi have put together a very lightweight boot using Taurus leather and their unique clip-in Traxion Studs.
A great technical boot that will be worn by, amongst others, Dan Carter. Triple whammy – they’re technically advanced, endorsed by the worlds top players and they are white and metallic gold!
adidas Predator Absolion TRX FG boots
Full grain leather upper boots with the adidas Traxion firm ground sole. The Predator Absolion RX XTRX SG skilfully combining classic black with retina melting ‘electricity’ and cyan blue! Lightweight boots with asymmetric lacing and external heal counter.
adizero RS7 PRo Rugby Boots
We’ve said a lot about these already [see the rugbystore Product Focus for the full low-down on the RS7], so I won’t go into any technical detail. For the purposes of this article all you need to know is: they are ridiculously lightweight and very bright green or very bright red. These, more than any other, make a bold statement!
Asics, Mizuno & Under Armour
Asics Lethal DS III ST, Mizuno Wave Ignitus II Si, Under Armour Blur Challenge FG
Asics Lethal DS III ST Rugby Boots
Another lightweight boot from a company that knows a few things about making superb footwear. The Asics Lethal DS III ST features a lightweight midsole and a 10mm heal wedge, subtly shifting the weight slightly forward to reduce strain on the lower limbs.
Not massively ‘in your face’ but hey, they are bright white!
Mizuno Wave Ignitus II Si boots
With a long history in running shoes, Mizuno has always utilised its years of experience and instilled them into some classic rugby boots. The Timaru and Samurai are long standing favourites but they’re out of place in this article… we want something brighter!
Step forward the Mizuno Wave Ignitus II Si – our current favourite boot from the new crop. These are light, light, light [285g] with a kangaroo upper making them soft and flexible but extremely tough.
We love technical kit here at rugbystore, and these are a beautiful bit of footwear engineering combined with the best colour we’ve seen in ages – we’re very impressed.
Under Armour Blur Challenge FG
By now, I’m sure a lot of you’re familiar with Under Armour through their class leading base layer garments and their Sponsorship of Wales. UA are pretty new to the table in the UK for boots but they’ve used a lot of their experience in American football to develop a range suitable for football and some rugby positions.
The UA Blur Challenge is a lightweight synthetic boot with a firm ground stud pattern. Available in subtle black with not quite so subtle yellow detailing!
Puma & Canterbury
Puma Esito Finale H8 and Canterbury Phoenix Club II Si Uglies boots
Puma Esito Finale H8 rugby boots
The Puma Esito Finale H8 brings a bit of 8 studded flair to the forwards! Often neglected in the brightly coloured world of superlight football boots, the 8 stud pattern offers better grip where forwards need it. And now you can have that extra grip in bright yellow.
Canterbury Phoenix Club II Si Uglies rugby boots
Canterbury have really worked on evolving their ‘Uglies’ theme over the last few seasons. This has brought us the 2011 Phoenix Club II Si Uglies rugby boot. A mid-price 8 stud synthetic leather boot, the Phoenix Uglies are built on a medium last for normal width fitting and are an ideal all round boot choice.
They’re not miles out there in terms of design but it’s certainly a break from the usual CCC mould that rarely strays from black leather.
What side of the fence?
So where do you sit in the brightly coloured, in-your-face boots debate? I’m all in favour if it but then I am a sucker for a pair of bright trainers.
Does it bring a bit of personality to the game, is it a cynical marketing exercise, does it make you too easy to single out by the ref?!
Tell me what you think and feel free to send in the most bling boots you’ve seen!
