adidas ‘unlocked’ the DHL Stormers home and away kit for the 2014 season at a launch event held today (Thursday, December 5) at the adidas Performance store in the V&A Waterfront, Cape Town.

Three teams of adidas Storm Chasers – made up of a DHL Stormers player, media personality and a Super Fan (selected from the adidas 3Stripes loyalty programme) – raced around Cape Town looking for clues to help them complete challenges akin to The Amazing Race, in order to reveal the 2014 kits.

Once all of the clues were uncovered, the three teams – captained by Jean de Villiers, Juan de Jongh and Siya Kolisi – raced to the finish line at the adidas Performance store at the V&A Waterfont, where they entered their answers into a large safe, which once unlocked, revealed Scarra Ntubeni and Duane Vermeulen standing fully-clad in the new home and away kits.

Afterwards, the three captains along with Scarra and Duane, as well as Frans Malherbe, Gio Aplon and Allister Coetzee, held an autograph signing session and posed for photos with loyal DHL Stormers fans that had come to get a glimpse of the new kit.

Home Kit:

DHL Stormers 2014 Home Kit

Away Kit:

DHL Stormers 2014 Away Kit

The new DHL Stormers home jersey retains the collegiate royal blue and white colours, which was introduced in last season’s edition so as to bring the jersey in line with the traditional colour and hoops design of the Western Province jersey. However, this season sees a chevron pattern being incorporated into the front of the jersey’s design, adding an exciting, new element to the hoop effect.

One of the most notable changes to recent editions comes in the away jersey, which has moved away from the traditional white and blue inverted colour variant. Instead, the plain white jersey is starkly contrasted on the front by the introduction of a large royal blue and red lightning symbol – a design element taken from the DHL Stormers’ logo.

Commenting on the new kit, Roddy van Breda, Managing Director of adidas South Africa said: “adidas worked closely with Western Province Rugby in developing the jersey designs that the DHL Newlands faithful would be proud to wear and we trust the contemporary new look of both jerseys will inspire the team to achieve their goal of winning the Super 15.”

Other design elements incorporated into the two new jersey designs include a red insert on the inside of the home jersey collar and blue on the away jersey, both of which add a subtle and visually appealing dash of contrasting colour. Furthermore, the iconic 3 stripes of the technical sponsor, adidas, run along the back shoulder of the jersey and are thicker than in previous versions.

“Our home jersey continues to reflect the traditional colour and hoops of DHL Western Province, whereas the new away jersey has moved away from our more traditional look and should be a great hit with our loyal supporters,” stated WP Rugby CEO Rob Wagner.

DHL Stormers captain Jean de Villiers commented further: “I hope and trust that our fans will take to both jerseys and we look forward to being able to represent this proud franchise in our new strips next season.”

The new home and away jerseys are now available at adidas Performance stores as well as many sports retailers countrywide at a recommended retail price of R699.

* For further information please visit adidas.co.za, adidas News Stream or follow #showyourstripes on Instagram adidasZA and on Twitter @adidasZA. Unlock the adidas vault to find out more about the brand’s heritage.