The Wallabies have agreed to wear a white jersey against Portugal at the Rugby World Cup, and may have to avoid wearing gold in the future against certain nations, as part of a contentious new World Rugby policy to accommodate fans with colour-blindness.
World Rugby foreshadowed a new policy in 2021 where they would seek to make life easier for people with colour vision deficiency (CVD), more commonly known as colour-blindness, by having teams change jersey colours when they are problematic for CVD sufferers, such as red and green.
World Rugby said one in 12 males and one in 200 women suffer from some sort of CVD, including World Rugby chairman Bill Beaumont.
The policy was expected to come into practice in 2025 but World Rugby have begun working with nations to avoid CVD colour clashes at this year’s World Cup, including Australia.
The Wallabies meet Portugal in their last pool C clash at the World Cup in Saint-Etienne on October 1, but Australia’s gold jersey, which reverted to a more orange hue in 2021, clashes slightly with Portugal’s main red jersey, and with their alternate green jersey as well.
Rugby Australia confirmed they’d be informed of the clash and had agreed to a request to wear an alternate strip for the pool game. Portugal won a coin toss to be the home team for the pool clash, as per custom.
Portugal players, in red jerseys, taking on Japan in 2021.Credit: AP
The Wallabies wore a dark green First Nations jersey against Uruguay in the 2019 Rugby World Cup as a secondary strip, but nominated a white jersey as their alternate jersey for the 2023 tournament back in 2019.
Australia has had white alternate jerseys for most World Cups but never had to wear them.
Australia has only ever had to wear an alternate striped jersey once at a World Cup, due to a regular colour clash, when the Wallabies met Romania and their yellow jerseys in 1995.
The Wallabies have designed the white jersey to be another iteration of the First Nations jersey, however, with green patterns on the shoulders and on the midriff.
Israel Folau and Will Genia in alternate white jerseys used by the Wallabies for training ahead of the 2015 Rugby World Cup final. The jerseys were never worn in a game.Credit: Getty
While Rugby Australia agreed to make the change with goodwill, some nations are unhappy with the prospect of having to potentially change their traditional colours often in the future.
A report in South Africa said SARU were upset with the idea of having to potentially switch to a white jersey when they play the All Blacks or France in the future – and possibly as soon as the 2023 World Cup finals – due to the clashes of dark green with black and blue.
“While SA Rugby supports World Rugby’s ambition to make rugby as inclusive as possible, we have serious reservations about the potential impacts the application of the colour-blindness regulations may have, and believe they need further interrogation,” SARU chief executive Rian Oberholzer told the Daily Maverick.
The Wallabies in an alternate strip against Romania at the 1995 Rugby World Cup.Credit: Tim Clayton
“For instance, it would mean that the Springboks and All Blacks would never meet again with both in their primary colours at any World Rugby event.
“The guidelines say that: ‘If only one person watching on the sidelines of the school field is having trouble following some elements of the game due to an avoidable kit clash, then rugby is letting them down.’
“But we believe that some or all of the 11 out of 12 males and 199 out of 200 women who are not colour-blind (on the statistical base presented) may also feel let down if the time-honoured traditions of the game are lost, setting aside the potential damage to the equity established in those colours and brands over centuries.”
The report said New Zealand were also not happy with the prospect of not being able to wear their iconic black jersey on a regular basis.
World Rugby and NZR have been contacted for comment.
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