Cape Town - New Zealand's referees will be stepping out in pink in this year's Super Rugby tournament thanks to a three-year sponsorship deal with Pink® Batts®.

According to the allblacks.com website, the deal means a new strip for referees with their pink socks, shorts and shirt uniform making a debut next weekend in Round 2 of Super Rugby when the Highlanders host the reigning champion Chiefs in Dunedin, and the Hurricanes host the Blues in Wellington.

NZRU High Performance Referees Manager Rod Hill said: "We're looking forward to raising the visibility of referees to rugby followers and if the colour gets people talking then that's fantastic. What's really important is that Pink® Batts®' support will help increase awareness and interest in what referees do, while helping us to retain the current crop of referees."

New Zealand referee Chris Pollock said: "If wearing pink means we can encourage more people to be involved in refereeing at all levels of the game, and that more people recognise that refereeing can be great fun, then I'm all for it."