Ireland's James Ryan is supported by Wales' Jack Morgan during the Six Nations match in Cardiff on February 4, 2023. (Photo by Michael Steele/Getty Images)
- Ireland and Wales may no longer be allowed to play against each other in their traditional uniforms.
- This is because the combination of green and red is troublesome for people who are colorblind.
- Wales Rugby Union chief executive Abi Tierney said the different kit colors would “change the way we watch the game”.
- For more sports news, news 24 sports cover.
Ireland and Wales could play for the last time wearing their traditional plain green and red shirts in a Six Nations match later this month in a bid to support colour-blind rugby supporters.
The combination of green and red is particularly problematic for people who suffer from color blindness, and will be a problem when reigning Grand Slam champions Ireland and Wales play in Dublin on February 24.
Around the world, approximately 1 in 12 men and 1 in 200 women suffer from color blindness (CVD).
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World Rugby rules coming into force from January will require Six Nations teams to avoid uniform clashes that make it difficult for spectators suffering from CVD and TV viewers to understand the game. .
The responsibility for making changes as necessary rests with the visiting team.
Wales Rugby Union chief executive Abi Tierney said on Wednesday: “Clashing kit colors will change the way we watch the game and I completely sympathize with those whose enjoyment of the game will be affected as a result.” he said.
“Our current replacement kits are black and more recently we've been using green. None of these examples are particularly helpful for this problem,” she added.
“But there are other ways to get around this problem. Using kits with vastly different designs can also help avoid the problem…for example, one team has checks and the other has stripes. , color becomes completely irrelevant.”
Rugby tradition is for both teams to wear first-choice shirts of similar colors, with the home team wearing their second-choice uniform.
This custom dates back to the amateur days of rugby union, when the home team provided a change of shirts and the away team were considered guests.
Therefore, Six Nations matches between the 'blue' teams (Scotland, France and Italy) usually result in the host nation wearing an alternate belt.
But while France wore white kits in a controversial 20-16 win over Scotland in Edinburgh on Saturday, the Daily Telegraph reports that the move was driven by the Six Nations Committee. It was reported that CVC Capital Partners owns a 14.3% stake in Championship.
Leaders are understood to believe that teams playing at home in their primary kit means maximizing home advantage.
