THE Scottish Rugby Union has sold the jerseys - for well over #1m.

The famous dark blue shirt of the Scottish international team will now be supplied by Cheshire company Cotton Oxford, which will replace Hawick knitwear company Pringle as official kit supplier.

The Scottish company, which has been forced to make a number of workers redundant recently because of the strength of the pound hitting exports, had told the SRU that it was not interested in renewing its four-year sponsorship deal, which cost some #850,000.

Pringle said it wanted to refocus the company's efforts on its own-brand goods.

With the contract running out this month, the rugby union has spent some time on speaking to other potential suppliers, before finally signing the deal with Cotton Oxford for what is described as a ''substantial seven-figure sum''.

The length of the contract has also not been made public, but is likely to be for three years at least.

The Scotland tour to Australia and Fiji will now be kitted out by Cotton Oxford, with its logo replacing that of Pringle.

However, in September, a new range of play and training kit, replica, and leisurewear will be launched by the company, although the changes are unlikely to be too radical as rugby tops tend to remain true to their traditions rather than adopting the ephemeral, gaudy colours of football tops.

Cotton Oxford does not kit out any of the other home international sides, but is a leading supplier of many club sides including Melrose, Watsonians, Boroughmuir, Stirling County, Wasps, Saracens, and Swansea.

What perhaps explains the substantial deal is that Cotton Oxford has also merged with New Zealand company Canterbury to form arguably the largest rugby kit suppliers in the world.

Canterbury already supplies the All Blacks, and numerous Australian and New Zealand club sides.

The merger means that the new Scottish jerseys will now be more easily accessible on the Australian and New Zealand markets, where hundreds of ex-pat Scots are expected to snap them up.

The company already supplies about 1000 outlets in the UK.

SRU chairman Duncan Paterson said it was delighted to be associated with a company that had a worldwide and long-standing reputation as a leading supplier of rugby kit and accessories.