Alright, folks, today I gotta spill the beans on this Ireland rugby gear hunt. World Cup fever’s kicking in, right? Got myself pumped, decided the old stuff needed an upgrade. Simple goal: find the real deal Ireland rugby wear without my wallet screaming.
Started offline. Big mistake. Figured local sports shops might have something. Drove around the city, hit up three different places. First shop? Couple of basic green t-shirts with some clover thing. Not even the actual badge. Told me “rugby section” was basically that. Lame.
Second shop was bigger. Felt hopeful. Wandered in, saw loads of soccer jerseys upfront. Asked a guy behind the counter. He kinda blinked, pointed to a tiny corner way in the back. Found a single rack. Two England tops, one old All Blacks training top. Zero Ireland. Zip. Nada. Asked specifically. He shrugged, mumbled something about needing to order way ahead. Thanks for nothing, mate.
Third place? Forget it. Just a wall of fancy running shoes and gym leggings. Got outta there fast.
Online, obviously. That’s where the mess started. Hopped on the laptop, coffee getting cold.
- Checked the Big Official Shop: Prices? Ouch. Like, ‘paying for solid gold studs’ ouch. Basic jersey fifty quid? Before shorts? Before socks? Before anything else? Yeah, no. Wanted gear, not bankruptcy papers.
- Tried big sports chains online: Bit more selection finally! But sizes were all over the place. Found a green hoodie that looked decent. Went to add my size to cart: “Only size Small available”. Tried another site for the same hoodie. “Large and XXL Only”. Like playing the wrong kind of lottery.
- Payment drama time. Found a pair of decent training shorts on this one site. Tried buying. Card declined. Happens. Tried another card. Declined. Phoned the bank – “Everything’s fine your end.” Went back to the site, tried a different payment method. Site crashed mid-process. Got charged? Didn’t get charged? No confirmation email. Spent half an hour sweating on live chat. Finally got a “transaction failed” after ages. Shorts probably sold out by then anyway. Waste of time.
- Scrolling through endless “Rugby Stores”. Some looked sketchy – blurry pictures, prices too good? Nah, not risking it. Other legit-looking ones had stuff listed… “Pre-order for Jan 2024” and the World Cup starts next month. Pointless.
Where the deals actually happened? Pure luck and stalking sales sections.
- Randomly checked an outlet section on one of the big sports sites late one night. BINGO. Found last year’s home jersey. Proper one. Less than half the price of the new one. Snapped that up fast. Colour’s still green, badge is still there. Job done.
- Signed up for newsletters. Got spammed? Yeah. But also snagged a one-day flash sale alert from another site. Bagged training t-shirts and socks bundle for a price that didn’t hurt.
- Followed the team’s kit maker on socials. Sometimes they drop promo codes for followers only. Grabbed 15% off just by seeing a story pop up.
Why was it such a headache? Seems obvious now.
- Official shops? Paying premium brand tax. Full price? Forget it.
- Physical shops? Stock is trash unless you live in Dublin maybe. They cater to what shifts fast locally.
- Online stock? Crazy inconsistent. One site has Small, another has XXL. Never Medium when you need it.
- Discounts? Not advertised loudly. Need to dig, dig deeper, and then keep refreshing.
- New kit hype? Kills supply instantly. Old stock vanishes or gets scarce fast once the previews hit.
Got my haul eventually. Patched together from bits and pieces: outlet jersey, sale bundle, discount code socks. Looks good though. Ready to roar (comfortably and affordably). Moral of the story? If you want Irish gear without the premium price tag:
- Forget the high street unless you get lucky.
- Embrace the outlet sections online.
- Sign up for emails (filter them later!).
- Stalk the sale pages regularly.
- Use promo codes from the maker’s own socials.
- Be prepared to grab sizes fast when they appear.
It’s messy, it’s frustrating, but the deals ARE out there if you put in the grunt work. Happy hunting!
