Player identity, marketability and creating stars are what rugby is crying out for.
The decision to put names on the back of the shirts for all players in the men's 2024 Six Nations and beyond was a timely one.
Casual viewers could quickly identify who's who and therefore build a following around a player they liked the look of.
Names on the back of shirts have long been prevalent in the Premiership, but when you don't have that, as seen in the Champions Cup and Challenge Cup in recent weeks, the sport shoots itself in the foot all because of 'rugby values'...
Opposition
New Zealand are the biggest opponent to names on the back of their jerseys, but how great would it be to grow their players' profiles? The All Blacks’ old school mentality around tall poppy syndrome is frankly outdated.
‘The name on the front is more important than the name on the back', is true to an extent, but what do thriving sports like football, American football and basketball all have in common? They are built around superstars and jersey sales.
Ability to buy shirts with names could explode the sports popularity
Rugby is crying out for that, and what better way to create superstars than to have the likes of ‘Dupont 9’, ‘Kolbe 11’ and ‘M Smith 10’ jerseys on sale for fans to endorse their heroes.
Yes, rugby may not want to completely copy football, but names on the back of shirts help grow the game.
Let the game create stars, so when you ask non-viewers of the sport, how many rugby players can they name? They don't just answer with one or two, or even worse, none. Let's get players in the public eye and advertise the heroes of our sport. It's what they deserve.