Late adidas leaves All Black fans in lurch

An altered adidas poster advertising the controversial adidas All Blacks rugby jersey on Karangahape Road. Photo / Dean Purcell.

All Blacks fans who ordered the new jersey from an overseas website may not receive them until after the Rugby World Cup has begun because adidas has been late delivering them, One News reports.

Customers who purchased the jersey from rugbystore.co.uk were sent an email which said: "Instead of them being delivered to us by the end of this month [August] as promised, [adidas] have now told us the shirts will not be delivered to our warehouse until September 16 2011."

The Rugby World Cup kicks off on September 9, when the All Blacks take on Tonga at Eden Park in Auckland.

The delay in delivery comes after Adidas were criticised for selling the jerseys for twice the price in New Zealand as they were available from British and United States websites.

Adidas told One News they did not know of the problem with deliveries.

"It is possible that these outlets under estimated demand for the product in terms of the orders they initially placed and so are awaiting supply of re-orders," a spokesman said.

"I am aware that demand for the jersey has been high all over the world and that our teams around the world are working hard to fulfill all orders placed as soon as possible."

A spokesperson from rugbystore.co.uk understood adidas itself does not yet have the shirts. The company is offering an exchange or refund to customers who do not want to wait, One News reported.

- APNZ