Global sportswear giant adidas has folded and apologised to New Zealanders for trying to force rugby fans to fork out top dollar for the new All Blacks jersey.

In a public relations disaster, the German firm has been stoically sticking to its high cost price for the Rugby World Cup replica jersey, leaving retailers with little choice but to sell them for $NZ220 ($A176) each.

This was despite complaints from fans, top politicians, retailers and rugby greats.

The company's popularity slid further this week when it ordered two overseas websites to stop shipping its considerably cheaper jersey to New Zealand.

Adidas did a u-turn on Thursday, apologising and saying sales would resume on all websites.

"We understand that our people are annoyed about the two sites and we understand that there are dozens of other sites people can buy from," the company's New Zealand manager, David Huggett, told Newstalk ZB.

"The last 11 days have been pretty tough and first of all I want to apologise to you and all the listeners for the distraction this topic has created and for what should really be a perfect build-up, leading into the Rugby World Cup."

In hindsight "we would reconsider our strategy," he admitted.

However, the company still refuses to lower its wholesale price, saying it believed the price was "absolutely fair and reasonable".

The manufacturer has also cancelled a large-scale glitzy event planned in Auckland tonight.

The "Black is Beautiful" event, involving hundreds people, including top celebrities and sports stars, was postponed in "light of serious customer issues currently before us".

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