Everyone loves a bit of retro, and they always have.

If you look at any of the decades over the past thirty years, many of the artistic interpretations from that period will have come from the decades twenty years prior.

The shop Urban Outfitters in 2026 being a classic example. Opening the door to that shop is like opening the door to my pine wardrobe in 2003.

Another great example is the Welsh Rugby Union who have just released an anthem jacket that wouldn’t have looked out of place in my wardrobe from 1987. 

As an aside, I love that anthem jacket because it is retro. But it’s deliberate and obvious retro design seems to have flown straight over the heads of many middle-aged Welsh rugby supporters’ heads.

Read more: How to watch every minute of the Greatest Rivalry tour

When it launched many of the supporters of my vintage (50 years plus) commented on social media that “it just looks like a bloody shell suit from the 80’s”. Yes, that is the point.

If you wander around Cardiff of a weekend, most of the youngsters are wearing 70s moustaches and going ‘out’ on a Saturday night in a zip-up fleece, bleached denim baggy jeans and white New Balance shoes (shoes that middle aged men used to wear whilst washing their car on a typical Sunday in 1990 ).

That’s the point of ironic/retro fashion – most of the stuff that you wouldn’t have been seen dead in, in the 1980s, is now what most youngsters live in.

But that’s enough with the rant on Welsh rugby fashions. 

Why we should celebrate the Greatest Rivalry Tour between South Africa and the All Blacks

It’s not just fashion that has started looking back for inspiration – in 2026 so too have rugby’s tour organisers.

‘Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry’ Tour is retro perfection.

Fehi Fineanganofo of New Zealand All Blacks leaps over Damian McKenzie of New Zealand All Blacks scoring a try during the match between Hollywoodbets Sharks and New Zealand at Hollywoodbets Kings Park Stadium on August 11, 2026 in Durban, South Africa. (Photo by Steve Haag Sports/Gallo Images/Getty Images)

It’s a look back at rugby tours from the past, but with all of the features of the modern era. For those who aren’t aware (or those who have been heavily diverted by the Welsh Rugby Union’s anthem jacket), it’s a four-test series between South Africa and New Zealand, and four matches between the All Blacks and the South African franchises i.e. Stormers, Sharks, Bulls, and Lions. 

Whilst being a throwback to the tours of yesteryear, as with all truly retro launches, there is also a touch of the modern thrown in.

The first three tests will be played in South Africa, the fourth being played in the USA – with one eye on the United States hosting the Men’s Rugby World Cup in 2031 and the Women’s Rugby World Cup in 2033.

Prior to the tour, many were worried about the games against the four franchises being ‘blow outs’ – which the result against the Sharks certainly was.

It was 54-0 and one of the worst things to happen to Sharks since Jaws 3 (the 3D one). The game against the Stormers however was anything but a blowout – with the age defying Deon Fourie showing the youngsters how it was done.

But all of these club/ test tours have historically had the odd ‘blow out’. The British and Irish Lions’ tours are no different. That’s almost the beauty of these tours, in that each game often isn’t as significant in its own right, but rather the tour is viewed as a whole once it is completed.

It’s like the difference between loving a single and appreciating an entire album. For example, whilst the Sharks were blown away, so too was everyone watching Ma’a Nonu deliver a one-man haka against his nation.

It was awesome in every way – it sent shivers through my spine and straight into my Nike Dunks (originally launched in 1985).

The benefits of a return to tours like this are big and varied. Firstly, it feels new and any type of innovation in rugby is welcomed – even if it is retro. 

Secondly, they allow players who may never play test rugby the chance to have a crack at test level opposition. 

Thirdly, they allow local audiences to see their players perform again the best, in what for many will be a once in a lifetime opportunity.

Tony Clement of Swansea passes the ball during the match against Australia in Swansea, Wales. Swansea won the match 21-6. (Gray Mortimore/Allsport)

I still remember watching Swansea beating Australia in St Helens in 1992 – I was 15. It was the 2nd of November, and according to a quick Google search Scott Gibbs and Garin Jenkins scored tries and Aled Williams successfully converted a try, slotted two penalties, and kicked a drop-goal.

I had to look up the details of the match as at the time I remember being sidetracked by someone wearing the awesome new Nike Air Huarache (which launched in 1992 and was rebooted in 2001). 

And fourthly, and perhaps most importantly, this tour will make money – and that is what pro rugby is. New Zealand in particular need cash, so you can’t blame them or the Boks for wanting this tour. At test level, it’s not just dog-eat-dog on the field, it’s the same if not worse for the accountants of their respective nations.

Is this a way of growing the game?

This season has seen the inaugural Rugby Nations Championship receive stacks of unwarranted criticism for modernising the test rugby format, and yet in the same season we get to have a glimpse of the two greatest rugby nations on earth doffing their hat to the more amateur elements of the old-fashioned club/test tour. 

It seems like a good balance.

Perhaps, with a bit of luck, these tours will once again catch on. Imagine England touring France. You could really dial up the rivalry with that set of fixtures.

If you launched a four-test/ four club series in France, with England fully branded with Agincourt 1415 sown into the limited-edition shirts, then you wouldn’t be able to afford a ticket without selling a pair of mint Air Jordan 1s.

After that it’s only a short leap before Scotland tour the North of England, the winners getting to redraw the border, and a three-test show piece final between Wales and England in Hereford – the winners get the city and all that’s within.

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