Adidas’ 2023 Rugby World Cup Boots Leak: First Pics, Details

With every Rugby World Cup year, it’s exciting to see what the big boot brands do with their line in order to grab attention; and Adidas, who are producing rugby-specific boots in two models, have two new silos in store for this year’s tournament.

Appearing via RugbyGAABootSpotting on Instagram, the first boot is the RS15 Pro, which will replace the RS7. The RS model is essentially the backline/speed boot in the rugby range, but is worn by many players.

While the current RS7 boot has remained pretty much unchanged for a few seasons, the new RS16 Pro features a lot of interesting tweaks to the previous design. The overall shape and silhouette appear pretty similar, but there are some notable changes, with the outsole/soleplate being the biggest, featuring the same outsole that’s on the SG model of Adidas’ football boot, the Speedportal.1 (you can read our review of the Speedportal here).

This means the RS15 will lose the much-loved Speedframe soleplate in favour of the Speedportal’s, which includes “Stability Wings”, which is a wider heel counter that extends and wraps around the sides of your heel area for better stability.

The images are of the SG (soft-ground) model too, so it’s not certain whether the FG (firm ground) model will have the exact same FG studs as seen on the Speedportal (although, the moulded studs present are more bladed), or Adidas will opt for a rounder stud like that on the older RS7 models.

In terms of the colourway, the RS15 features a metallic blue and orange combination with gold accents. Interestingly, there is also an image of a blackout RS15 with the black fern design placed across the boot. This is undoubtedly a custom colourway for the All Blacks to play in at the Rugby World Cup.

There is also a white/green colourway on the cards, as seen being worn by Dan Carter, who attended a training session with the All Blacks, while Beauden Barrett is wearing the black colourway.

Damian Willemse can also be seen wearing the white model, below: