adidas reintroduces the All Blacks’ black collar for a landmark tour of South Africa, engineering a grip-resistant match jersey alongside a training and lifestyle range built to carry the rivalry beyond the pitch.
adidas and New Zealand Rugby have launched a bespoke match jersey, training wear, and replica collection for the inaugural “Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry” tour, a seven match series that takes the All Blacks through South Africa, including three test matches against the host nation, before ending with a final test in Baltimore, Maryland.
The tour is the All Blacks’ first major visit to South Africa in 30 years and begins a fixture that will now run every four years. That shift gives adidas and New Zealand Rugby a fixed platform to build product and marketing programs around. Adding a US test in Baltimore reflects rugby leaders’ push to expand the sport’s commercial footprint in North America ahead of the men’s Rugby World Cup returning to the region in 2031.
At the center of the range is a new match jersey that builds on the All Blacks’ established design language, bringing back the black collar last seen at the 2023 Rugby World Cup. Using player body mapping data, adidas engineered ergonomic side panels across the abdomen for a tighter, three dimensional fit designed to limit grip points in contact, paired with a set in sleeve construction. The launch also includes a training capsule, a performance replica jersey that mirrors the on pitch garment, a boxier fit lifestyle replica, and a heritage polo that extends adidas’s Rugby Core line into everyday wear.
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