Back in the day, rugby shirts were 100% cotton, weighed a tonne when they were wet and could only be bought from local sport stores or a team’s home ground.

These days, jerseys use a concoction of man-made fibres, cost an arm and a leg and seem to be getting tighter and tighter with every passing season.

Read more: All you need to know about the 2025-26 Gallagher PREM season

It doesn’t stop us rugby fans buying them, though.  There is nothing quite like wearing your club colours on the opening day of the season, pint in hand, full of belief that this year will be your club’s year.

Below, Rugby World editor Joe Robinson has dissected all 20 kits from this year’s Gallagher PREM and made a call on who is ready for the runway and who needs to get back on the sewing machine…

Gallagher PREM rugby kits 2025-26: ranked and rated

1. Northampton Saints away 

Trevor Davison looks like he would be a fantastic pie maker. Like really good. Like award-winning, guest slot on Sunday Brunch good. 

Editor’s verdict: Beautiful church-like pattern and regal purple stitching. Top of the pops, for us. 

• Buy the Northampton Saints away jersey here

2. Bristol Bears home

A move away from the blue and white hoops to a two-tone approach. Purists will be seething. Blows my mind that the kits are made by a chain of pubs, too.

Editor’s verdict: Great colour matching on the shades of blue. Others won’t approve but we do. 

• Buy the Bristol Bears home jersey now 

3. Gloucester home

In contrast to Bristol Bears, Gloucester’s return to a more traditional cherry and white hoop is welcomed. Not sure who Big Dug is, though.

Editor’s verdict: A classic of the genre. Synonymous with PREM rugby. No notes.

• Buy the Gloucester Rugby home shirt here

4. Northampton Saints home

Pretty good, pretty, pretty good. It’s those thicker yellow stripes. They’ve bewitched the minds, snared the senses. The small details of the saint’s cross in the yellow is a subtle touch. Even the white-out Cinch logo is working …

Editor’s verdict: We don’t know what it is but it has it… 

• Buy the Northampton Saints home shirt now

5. Sale Sharks away 

What’s Irish singer-songwriter Enya’s favourite PREM rugby fixture? Sale away, Sale away, Sale away.

Editor’s verdict: Lovely shade of magenta. Still pleased with the above joke, too.

• Buy the Sale Sharks away jersey 

6. Leicester Tigers home

Shades of the 2002-03 kit with the block green chest and red and white panelling on the sides. The subtle sponsorship and manufacturer logos are not intrusive and the socks are smart too. A good effort.

Editor’s verdict: It’s good colour work but it’s not quite the classic striped number of 1999-00 

• Buy now from Leicester Tigers

7. Sale Sharks home

Not satisfied enough with the presidency of France, Emmanuel Macron is also making Sale and Northampton’s kits this year. An interesting bit of moonlighting.

Editor’s verdict: The blue and white is a timeless combination but we did like last year’s shark fin pattern.

• Buy the Sale Sharks home shirt from Macron

8. Gloucester away 

Gloucester claim this shirt has been designed with the inspiration of the local cathedral in mind, the 33rd highest church in the UK. Still no idea who Big Dug is.

Editor’s verdict: While not traditional club colours, it is a solid away shirt.

• Buy the Gloucester Rugby away shirt now

9. Saracens away

A clean monochrome away strip for Saracens is an improvement on the grey and white blocks of last season. We do take issue with the double StoneX sponsorship. A bit overkill.

Editor’s verdict: Would rank higher if not for the sponsorship spamming. 

• Buy the Saracens away shirt

10. Newcastle Red Bulls away

The yellow is a nod back to the 2000-01 change strip, iconically worn by a young Jonny Wilkinson in better times for the Geordie club. They will be hoping this return to a classic will bring with it similar fortunes.

Editor’s verdict: We prefer it to the home strip, matches Red Bull’s colours better.

• Buy the Newcastle Red Bulls away jersey here

11. Harlequins home

The quartered colours of Quins are a staple of English rugby and there is not much that can be done with it on a year to year basis, hence its mid-table position. Would have preferred a collar for a more retro feel.

Editor’s verdict: It’s decent but it will not be remembered as a classic.

• Buy the Harlequins home shirt from Castore now

12. Saracens home

Another nod to nostalgia with Saracens marking 10 years since their European Cup victory with a similar black to red fade jersey. They even brought Owen Farrell back from France to celebrate.

Editor’s verdict: A colour faded jersey is not the kindest to any of us harbouring love handles.

• Buy the Saracens home jersey now from Castore

13. Newcastle Red Bulls home

Special dispensation here to Newcastle. The Red Bulls takeover happened ever so quickly and I’m sure a kit was not at the top of the list of priorities. I’m unsure if the black and white of Newcastle goes with Red Bull’s silver, red and blue but time will tell. We suspect, like the team itself, this will be a work in progress.

Editor’s verdict: Mid-table for Newcastle in the kit rankings. They’ll bite your arm off for that at the end of the year. 

• Buy the Newcastle Red Bulls home jersey now

14. Harlequins away

The west London club has expressed Pantone freedom with recent away shirts working their way through the colour spectrum. This year they have landed on a splattered pink look that is as if your daughter was emulating the late Jackson Pollock.

Editor’s verdict: There was an opportunity to do something chic here and they missed.

• Buy the Harlequins away jersey now

15. Leicester Tigers away 

Another club that has flicked through the colour scale with recent away shirts, at odds with Leicester’s often traditional approach. This year we see a mint green number from Castore, the club’s new kit manufacturers. 

Editor’s verdict: Looks more like a training shirt than a jersey.

• Buy the Leicester Tigers away jersey now 

16. Exeter Chiefs home

Did you know that Exeter is home to the UK’s narrowest street? Parliament Street in the city centre is only 25 inches wide at its tightest. 

Editor’s verdict: It’s fine if not a little underwhelming.

17. Exeter away 

Do you think there are any of Exeter’s current playing squad who would struggle fitting down that street? Ethan Roots is a big lad. So is Scott Sio… 

Editor’s verdict: Again, it’s fine if not a little underwhelming.

• Buy now from Castore 

18. Bath home

The blue, black and white hoops of Bath Rugby buried their domestic demons last season and lifted the PREM title for the first time in almost three decades – a pivotal moment for the Somerset club. You’d think Ben Spencer would crack a smile.

Editor’s verdict” Something is a touch off. I think it’s the blue fade into the white hoops.

• Buy the Bath Rugby jersey from Castore

19. Bristol Bears away

Nik Simon at the Daily Mail reckons the Bristol Bears logo looks like two ants sat at a dinner table debating wealth tax. I personally don’t see it.

Editor’s verdict: Bristol are quite a progressive club. Expected a bit more. 

• Buy the Bristol Bears home jersey now 

20. Bath away

I don’t know whether to love or hate that Bath’s away shirt has the outline of the Dyson PC1 air purifying fan. I’m torn. Honestly, it’s keeping me up at night.

Editor’s verdict: Decision made. I’m a Shark man. I hate it.

• Buy the Bath Rugby jersey from Castore

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