Wallabies forced to wear WHITE jersey in ‘woke’ World Rugby move where famous All Blacks could also be forced to abandon iconic brand for white alternative
- Alternative comics introduced for inclusion
- Colorblind rugby fans disapprove of the policy
- NZ and South Africa rail against the decision
The Wallabies will be required to wear a white jersey instead of their traditional green and gold kit in their final pool game against Portugal at the 2023 Rugby World Cup as part of a new policy to accommodate fans with color blindness.
And other national teams will be forced to follow suit, including New Zealand, who will be forced to wear an alternative strip despite their All Blacks branding.
The World Rugby policy, expected to be put into effect in 2025, aims to make the game more accessible to people with color vision deficiency (CVD).
According to World Rugby, one in 12 men and one in 200 women suffer from some form of CVD, including chairman Bill Beaumont.
The regular Wallabies jersey remains untouched, but the alternate strip is predominantly white.
Former Wallabies Matt Giteau, Kurtley Beale and Adam Ashley-Cooper attend the captaincy run ahead of the 2015 World Cup final in a white training strip
The predominantly white Wallabies jersey created for the 2011 Rugby World Cup but never worn in competition
Australia have made clash white jerseys in the past, they have not been called upon to wear them so far.
While Rugby Australia agreed to make this change, some nations are unhappy with the prospect of potentially having to change their traditional colors in the future.
South Africa, for example, is angry at the idea of possibly switching to a white jersey when they play the All Blacks of France in the future, and possibly as early as the 2023 World Cup final, due to clashes of dark green with black and blue .
“We have serious concerns about the possible consequences of applying the color blindness rules and believe they should be further questioned,” said SARU chief executive Rian Oberholzer.
The daily Maverick has also reported that New Zealand officials are far from thrilled at the prospect of wearing anything other than their iconic all-black kit.
New Zealand’s All Blacks title is a major brand and officials are unimpressed they may be forced to wear an alternative strip
South African officials have also filed their grievances against the straying from their traditional green jersey
The new policy has led to mixed reactions from rugby fans. Some see it as a positive move that will make the game more inclusive.
Others see it as an unnecessary imposition that can disrupt the game’s traditional colors and brands.
“This is absolute nonsense,” posted a colour-blind rugby fun.
“I’m deeply red-green colorblind and there are certain shades of red and green that I can’t say for sure are red or green, and I see purple as blue. But this rugby proposal is nonsense.
‘As a spectator I have never been able to distinguish teams. Perhaps the people behind this proposal have mistaken the date – April 1 is long past.”
Another fan who is red-green colorblind said, “I don’t know what problem they’re solving. For example, the only time I have a minor issue is Ireland v Wales, and even then it’s hardly a drama for me to distinguish either side. They look alike, but are not the same.’
Meanwhile, some fans are deriding the new policy as an example of “waking up.”
What will World Rugby think about now? Maybe replace red and yellow shipping cards with black and white cards in the future,” one fan joked.