Authorites have bowed to player pressure and will send the rugby balls used in the first test between New Zealand and Ireland to Germany for testing after being slammed for poor performance by All Black Andrew Mehrtens and Irish captain Keith Wood.
The New Zealand Herald reports that Mehrtens described the yellow adidas ball used at Carisbrook as a "pig", sparking an immediate response from the team's touchy $180 million sponsor.
Craig Lawson, managing director of adidas New Zealand, told the newspaper four balls would be sent to the company's base in Germany for extensive testing.
He was confident the balls would pass muster and said Mehrtens' criticism might have been made to draw attention away from the team's poor performance.
"But we respect his right to make those comments and if there is clearly an issue then we need to resolve that issue."
The company was unhappy, however, that Mehrtens made his comments in a public outburst to the media rather than talking directly to adidas.
"We've expressed our dissatisfaction to team management on the way in which the issue was communicated to us."
Criticism of the adidas ball has become almost routine since it was brought in to replace the Gilbert model in 2000.
That first adidas ball was ditched after its first season following criticism from Mehrtens, All Black five-eighths Tony Brown and halfback Justin Marshall.
Adidas came back with an improved ball last year, but players have continued to complain.