The All Blacks have received an early World Cup advantage after winning the right to wear their famous black jersey in the four pool games, including the crunch first match against France at the Stade de France.
Their new World Cup jersey was unveiled in Auckland this morning and 1News can reveal the All Blacks will wear the black “home” version – the alternate “away” strip is a light cream colour – for the group phase of the tournament starting on September 9 NZT.
The psychological boost for what will be a highly anticipated first game between the All Blacks and the tournament hosts, who traditionally wear dark blue but will have to wear their alternate white strip, came via a toss of the coin by manager Darren Shand in France recently.
It is understood that Shand called correctly four out of four times, meaning the All Blacks get the right not only to choose what strip to wear against France, Namibia, Italy and Uruguay, but also what changing room they will use and the time of the traditional captain’s runs on the eve of the matches.
1News understands that a run of successful coin tosses will allow New Zealand to wear their favoured black jersey for all four pool games in France. (Source: 1News)
The process for deciding the “home” and “away” teams for the knockout stage is done via a draw, with lower numbered teams also getting the right to decide their hotel and what training venues they use.
It’s understood that Shand drew number 7 among the 20 nations.
The colour of All Blacks’ jersey for the France game will be highly anticipated in Paris and beyond given the sportsmanship involved ahead of the final between the two nations at 2011 World Cup at Eden Park.
In that case, France team manager Jo Maso waived the right to choose, saying he and his players had too much respect for the All Blacks and it was only right for them to wear black on home turf.
It remains to be seen whether the All Blacks will return the favour but it’s unlikely.
In 2007, the All Blacks were involved in one of the worst ever World Cup jersey clashes when they wore their alternate grey strip against Scotland’s traditional blue at Murrayfield. The two colours and jersey designs were extremely similar.
Later in the tournament they famously lost their quarter-final to France while wearing their unloved grey as the French wore their traditional blue.
Watch Andrew Saville's full report on the All Blacks on 1News from 6pm
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