Oddly enough Chipmunk,
We've just changed over to the Red/White/Blue 3 Phase colour code over here, it was Red/Yellow/Blue before that.
Regarding your comments on TRS (Rubber Sheathed) cables, rubber sheathed cables are quite quite hard-wearing as long as they aren't subjected to too higher temperatures.
It will however be interesting to see how well this PVC sheathed stuff looks after a few years up in a hot roof void. [Linked Image]