New Super Rugby Strips Revealed

The five New Zealand Super Rugby franchises have all revealed their new strips for the 2016 season today.

The adidas strips were unveiled at a launch today.

The Blues have introduced light blue to their traditional navy jersey, along with light blue shorts. The Hurricanes' new strip is predominantly black with yellow above the chest. The Crusaders' jersey has black above the chest, with the rest of the strip red.

The Highlanders and Chiefs strips look similar to previous seasons.

The strips were designed in conjunction with Māori All Blacks Kaumātua Luke Crawford and renowned local artist Dave Burke.

"These jerseys continue to build on our commitment to developing unique ways for players and fans to celebrate their team. The Highlanders showed us the ferocity and determination required in this modern day game to take out the final last year from the valiant Hurricanes - so, this year, we pay even greater homage to the power of the Celtics with a bold reference to a Highland tartan," says Quentin Bleakley, adidas New Zealand Country Manager.

"The Blues jersey displays key locations of the region with tapa and tatau patterns that aim to proudly showcase the cultural diversity and Polynesian influence of the region.

"The Chiefs have incorporated their rich Māori heritage into the jersey design, elements in the design represent the history of the region, the provinces that make up the team and the power of the chiefs spirit in battle, while the Hurricanes jersey shows a visual reference to the power of the four winds (Ngā Hau e Whā) that collide together and unite the region (Te Hau Awhio) as one.

"The Crusaders jersey is an evolution of their medieval theme with a watermark of a knight on horseback in a striking chevron pattern."

A new season starts today. Gear up now. #BornOfThisLand pic.twitter.com/fDdv8VhcYB

— adidas Rugby (@adidasrugby) December 6, 2015

NZ Herald