Wales exploring kit design changes to help colour-blind rugby fans
Ireland and Wales are set to play each other in their traditional plain green and red shirts for the final time during a Guinness Six Nations game.
The green-red combination is a particular issue for colour-blind supporters, and it will surface again in next week’s Dublin clash between the countries.
Around one in 12 men suffer from colour vision deficiency (CVD) and one in 200 women, globally.
World Rugby regulations will come into force from January next year aimed at assisting those with CVD.
Those regulations will be adopted by the Six Nations, with all teams mandated to avoid kit clashes that could negatively impact spectators and television viewers suffering from CVD.
Six Nations guidance will see visiting teams asked to wear change kits where a colour match has been identified, meaning Ireland would wear a change strip in Cardiff next year if both kits remained the same.
Wales’ current change strip is black, and that would not have averted the problem at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday week.
Welsh Rugby Union chief executive Abi Tierney said: “Kit colour clashes do change the way you watch a game, and I have absolute empathy with those whose enjoyment is affected as a result.
“Our current alternate kit is black, and we have used green in the recent past. Neither of these examples particularly help with this issue, and additionally, the colour red in Wales is not just traditional, but a part of our culture.
“But there are other ways to work around the issues, and kits with significantly different designs can help avoid the problem too.
“We need to think laterally about how we can overcome the issue ahead of next year, perhaps not just with more inventive use of colours, but in our kit designs too.
“If one team is in checks and the other is in stripes, for example, then colours become pretty irrelevant, but we are thinking hard about a solution that works for everyone.
“We recognise that this is a serious issue for many fans, and we are taking it very seriously ourselves.
“It is regrettable that we haven’t reached a resolution to suit all this season, but I can confirm we are fully committed to correcting that in the next kit cycle.”
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Yes for sure, thanks for sharing. I fully understand that both parties are better off, no one needs to lose, neither competition suffers, in fact both can be better as a result.
Too many true rugby fans (and analysts) don't understand that.
I wouldn't imagine there is a date aye. It was a long decline rugby in SA and Australia was going through, and was so bad it even effected NZ, caused them to argue to can a couple of teams. The nation of SA probably grew into it? I know I watch more of the NH now specifically because of the SR teams playing there. I actually had to mention to Nick Bishop (because of his stubborn perspective) the other day that I've never been a fan of Super Rugby, I don't think they chose the right way to go about professionalism back in 1995. Unfortunately, NZR was stuck between a rock and a hard place, because it had SA's and Australians that ran their unions by States, so we had to separate into "two or three" teams as a result. Our game is in the kak now because of it, they want to kill off the lifeblood of our National Provincial Championship. But now we might see a way out of it, so it's all good.
Go to commentsOh, so the Boks going back to half way means they definitely scored?
Don’t make me laugh…..
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