This weekend, Olympic rugby players Steve Tomasin and Rodrigo Isgro breathed new life into an old tradition by jumping into the middle of the rugby pitch in Paris and swapping shorts.
After Saturday’s rugby sevens match, in which Argentina beat the United States 19-0, the opposing players put on their underwear.
American Tomosin was wearing a pair of star-studded Noodle Bagz briefs, while Isgro wore what appeared to be a simple pair of white briefs. The photo was shared worldwide by Reuters.
While this bromo-erotic act might seem like the inciting incident for a Sketchy download, it is actually rooted in sporting tradition.
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Their ritual was a variation of the shirt swap, which dates back to a football match between England and France in 1931. After the French team lost that match, they asked to keep their British opponents’ shirts as a souvenir.
Another notable example occurred after the 1970 FIFA World Cup, when Pelé and Bobby Moore swapped jerseys. Over the years, the tradition has spread to other sports such as baseball, basketball, and American football.
But this variation of the shorts swap is unique. According to NBCOlympics.com, “Tomasin simply wanted to keep his Olympic-worn jerseys as a souvenir, but he still wanted to do a traditional jersey swap with the other team. So for Tomasin, shorts were the next logical option.”
Fans of Tomasin in his underwear will be pleased to know that this isn’t his first foray into short-cut thirst traps. A series of photos posted to his Instagram account in February 2023 showed the rugby star sipping an espresso in nothing but a pair of brown swim trunks and sporting his Olympic tattoo.
Another series of Instagram posts featured him and his teammates wearing Noodle Bagz swimsuits after a 120-mile run from Santa Monica to Pacific Beach.
Despite the memorable moment between the United States and Argentina, the big winner of the day was France, who took gold, followed by Fiji who took silver and South Africa who took bronze.
