I caught a look at the 2010 Super 14 uniforms to be used by the New Zealand teams yesterday and I was not impressed. I'm not going to try and water it down. They're pretty damn awful.

Firstly, what happened to the whole 'adidas only release a new uniform every second year' thing that was in the press last year? Yes, the signing of BNZ means that new uniforms are needed. But look at the Canterbury jersey! Notice anything missing? And it's not entirely obvious from the terrible pictures I can find, but it looks like the 'watermark' motifs of last year's jersies have gone the same way as the sword - but I'm not entirely confident to say that.

All the other jerseys appear to be the same except - Oh wait! The BNZ logo!

We were lucky in the past that the Ford logo just seemed to fit on the jerseys. But why do the Chiefs have a white version when there's no white on their uni? [except names and numbers on the back] Why are the Hurricanes the odd ones out with blue? Is there not a black option?

Obviously the white is just a ploy to get maximum exposure on the telly, but it looks horrible, is it day-glo or is it just shiny white?

The Chiefs should be able to have a yellow version for home and away, because their strip has gone from being the best in town to looking filthy [their away strip is even worse].

The Hurricanes and Crusaders would look better with a black logo for their home shirts, and the Cru could do with a red option for their away strip because while it may stand out in that first photo, when the camera flash doesn't bounce back it is almost invisible, which makes me wonder what it'll look like in the sun, or when a strip is lightly caked in mud. The Highlanders away jersey may look ok with blue, while the home strip could utilise the yellow decal as well.

Secondly, what is with rugby uniforms and putting logos on the chest? Sure that's where the market who watch rugby just to check out the players [and no, and now that I've got your attention, here's what I know you're after], but if you think about it, most of the time in rugby brodcast players are a. On the ground in a ruck or b. running with the ball. And holding it across their chest. Why not put your logo on the stomach and lower back? Then you get exposure from two angles, and mostly unimpeded.

I want to know how this design fiasco happened. The NZ Super Rugby teams have had really good strips since the Super 14 expansion, but this new batch look like they were put out with no thought. BNZ has its corporate colours, yes, but why not make some room for the teams which are going to be representing you? This is an example of the private sector barging its way into rugby without giving a shit about the fans - and it's a worrying sign.

PS: Could Stephen Brett be the first NZ Super 14 player to model jersies for two different teams in two years?

Genius. Double the number of shirts, double the number of sales. At least that is the hope behind creating "away" strips for the NZ super 14 teams. Personally i dont care either way, though i am suprised there is not more yellow in the Hurricanes away strip, and due to its strong resemblance to this jersey, will it be cursed? The rest look alright, not a helavalotof difference from years gone by apart from the Blues, who really have brought the Ponsonby back into the jersey. With that print of Rangitoto it would probably look alright hanging framed on the wall of your toilet, but it does cause images such as this to spring to mind. The Crusaders away jersey is more than a bit shit.   

I have a question though. Apparently the "justification", you might say, for the away jerseys is sort of covered by this:

"The main change sees each of the franchises now supplied with an official "away" jersey that will be worn for all matches on the road during the competition which kicks off on February 13.

That's a change from seasons previous, when "away" colours were only brought out when there was a jersey clash."

But what is going to happen when the Highlanders meander into downtown Christchurch for their match with the Crusaders? A farce, thats what. And probably a riot - bloody kids.