Ireland and Wales will play out their Six Nations opener in traditional green and red colours this weekend, just a few months after World Rugby released guidance on kit clashes which affect colour-blind supporters.
The governing body published guidance on colour vision deficiency (CVD) last autumn - led by chairman Sir Bill Beaumont, who himself suffers from CVD - and warned that a clash of green and red kits can lead to fans with colour blindness "switching off" as they struggle to differentiate between teams.
However, Wales and Ireland's kit are produced in two-year cycles - meaning they would need two years' notice to act on such guidance - and neither has a suitable alternative jersey which would solve the problem for this weekend's clash in Dublin on Saturday.
Red-green colour blindness is the most common form of the condition and, according to the NHS, affects around one in 12 men and one in 200 women, meaning there are likely to be two to three colour-blind players in every men’s rugby squad of 32.
Convention in the championship and Test rugby is for the home team to change kits if there is a clash, so Wales would not have been directly affected as it would have fallen on Ireland to volunteer to wear an alternative kit. But neither have a suitable alternative jersey. Ireland’s is black and purple, while Wales have opted for black and dark green.
Both Unions announced two-year kit contracts in October which are likely to stipulate how many times the second kit is worn, so current alternative kits cannot just be discarded in favour of new ones. Both Unions have said they are committed to inclusivity and will use the time before their next kit release to fully assess World Rugby's comments on the matter.
World Rugby plans to prevent such kit clashes at World Cups in future in a bid to make the sport as accessible and inclusive as possible, making it a condition of participation that one team wears an alternative jersey to help players, officials and fans with CVD. The guidance is not yet law, with reports citing both the women's 2025 and men's 2027 World Cups as timelines for the new rules to be enacted.
In the meantime, no such policy has been introduced for the Six Nations.
Kathryn Albany-Ward, the founder of Colour Blind Awareness, told i: "Every year our social media feeds are full of angry colour-blind fans unable to follow the Ireland versus Wales Six Nations game. We’re bracing ourselves for an avalanche of complaints this year, whilst at the same time hoping common sense and respect for fans will prevail.
"Apart from the discomfort for spectators, the unions are potentially putting players in their own teams at a disadvantage. Have they screened all their players for colour blindness? If not, they are letting their teams down. Players and referees have told us of the difficulties they have experienced, and which have affected their performance."
World Rugby said it "is working towards adoption of the guideline insofar as possible and encourages its stakeholders to support these efforts in their own activities as far as possible".
As for the red v green clash, the global governing body said: "Perhaps the most common kit clash issue for rugby because of the number of teams playing in either red or green. This colour combination causes problems in every Rugby World Cup and Six Nations Championship and causes fans to switch off TV coverage or not even bother trying to watch known kit clash matches in the first place, especially Ireland v Wales in the Six Nations."
Clashes between team kits are not the only problematic colour clashes: kits can 'clash' with the colour of the pitch, the colour of match officials' kits and the crowds in the stands. Equipment colours, stadium and ticket information and TV coverage can also pose problems, too.
The Welsh Rugby Union said: "The Welsh Rugby Union is extremely proud of its work on inclusion and in disability rugby where it remains a key strategic aim to increase and enhance regular engagement and participation, across all ages, formats and competitions.
"Our plan is to grow, develop and enhance the offer of rugby union in Wales by modifying the traditional approach and ensuring we are inclusive and engaging to all people and communities. This new approach from World Rugby is one that we very much welcome and look forward to hearing more about.
"In terms of our current national kit offering… with our partners Macron… the next cycle of the design process for future kits will begin soon and we would hope to be able to fully assess these recent comments from World Rugby within that timeframe."
The Irish Rugby Football Union said in a statement: "The IRFU are committed to inclusivity. We work in two-year kit cycles and have just entered a new cycle so we will use this time to gather more information on this matter from World Rugby."
Guidance includes maximising contrast between kit colours, aiming to have a white second kit or a strongly contrasting colour if a home kit is white, avoiding pastel colours and red or green single colour kits. It also adds that Unions should aim to avoid problem kit combinations including red v black, red v green or orange, black or dark blue v maroon, paste colours against each other or against white, and blue v purple or dark pink.
In football, Wales deliberately wore yellow shirts instead of red when they faced the Republic of Ireland in Dublin in October 2020.
Premier League rules say kits must be of sufficient contrast as to be clearly distinguishable for all viewers, including those with CVD.
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