Ireland and Wales can't change kit for Six Nations match despite World Rugby stance on colour-blind shirt clashes

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.

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