Maori All Blacks 2014/15 adidas Jersey

The New Zealand Rugby Union and adidas have released the Maori All Blacks 2014/15 jersey. It will be available for purchase at World Rugby Shop, Kitbag Rugby and Lovell Rugby.

The All Blacks 2014/15 Maori Jyersey will be worn by New Zealand’s best Maori rugby players as they take on national teams during their Spring Tour. The Maori All Blacks will take on Japan on Saturday 1 November at Noevir Stadium, Kobe and on Saturday 8 November at Prince Chichibu Memorial Rugby Ground, Tokyo. A meeting with the Asia Pacific Dragons, an invitational side drawn from top Asian and Polynesian players, will followon November 15 in Singapore.

The jersey has been designed by Luke Crawford, Tiki Edwards and Dave Burke and takes inspiration from the relationship the Maori taiaha warrior and the Japanese samurai. The design focuses on the meeting of 2 warrior nations and pays respects to the separate yet shared cultural elements which the nations have in common.

• Pokohiwi (shoulders) – the players will carry on their shoulders the depiction of both the Maori world on the right shoulder and the Japanese world on the left shoulder through the use of Koru designs.
• Ara poutama – the poutama pattern is a descending stairway depicting whakapapa (genealogy) carried down throughout history with each step representing successive generations of skilled and trained warriors.

• Poupou toa (warrior figure) – the 2 figures at the bottom of each outama represent the Maori team to the right and the Japanese team to the left. Between these figures is a taiaha which is the preferred fighting weapon of the Maori. The blade at the upper part of the taiaha acknowledges the Japanese samurai sword as the preferred weapon for a Japanese warrior.

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