When it comes to maximising the silhouette, this new look uniform scores full marks. Considered the "blackest ever" All Black uniform, it is also the tightest. For the average bloke in the pub watching the game, it's definitely something to aspire to. For the ladies, it will make the game more interesting - there's no getting away from those rippling muscles.
Two years' research, a team of engineers, designers and sports experts at the adidas Global Headquarters in Germany have resulted in the jersey's high-tech fabric. Think woven carbon, a body mapping system based on a system used to test the wing bend in the Airbus plane and which measures the players' bodies as they move, breathability, flexibility and strength - and you can't help but be amazed at how far man-made fabrics have come.
Super tight, super strong - does this mean there'll be no more of Sonny Bill Williams' ripped jersey incidents? That really was a defining moment of the first game of the 2011 Rugby World Cup.
Amanda Linnell is the editor of the New Zealand Herald's food and fashion lift out publication Viva, published every Wednesday.
