All Blacks: Tough ruck blamed for SBW shirt malfunction

Tests show boot studs put paid to Sonny Bill William's jersey in opening game. Photo / Getty Images

The results are in on Sonny Bill Williams' torn shirt - and it turns out there was more than one stud in it.

Tests in a laboratory in China have revealed the shirt, which famously ripped in the Rugby World Cup opening match, was torn in a ruck.

Adidas sports marketing strategy manager Paul Stephens said: "Sonny Bill Williams' jersey appears to have been punctured by boot studs, and then subsequently tore under extreme pressure." The replica shirts have proved a hit with the public despite the initial pricing controversy. Adidas was at the centre of an outcry after selling jerseys in New Zealand for $220 when the same items were available overseas for about $100.

Rebel Sport boss Rod Duke said the company had sold eight times more All Blacks-related merchandise than expected. He said black clothing had sold at 10 times the normal rate.

The jerseys formed most of the popular All Black merchandise and were "selling by the bucketload", he said.

Duke - who oversees Briscoes - wound up at the centre of the adidas jersey row when he chopped $50 off the recommended retail price.

"We got a bigger market share, probably because of the stance we took early on. We probably came through that period in quite a good light."

He said the company had not made much on the discounted jumpers.

"Business is not always about making money - particularly when you talk about jerseys and Rugby World Cups and icons.

"The margin is terrible but that's okay. We'll make some money another time."

Duke didn't benefit from his own cut price war. While campaigning for a lower retail price, he never admitted he'd already paid the full price for his own All Black replica jersey. "That was too embarrassing to mention."