Rugby World Cup teams told to wear away kits at 2023 tournament to help colour

Colour-blindness campaigners have welcomed World Rugby's recommendations that teams at this year's men's World Cup adhere to guidelines on troublesome kit-colour clashes.

The rules on kit clashes will become mandatory on 1 January 2025, but the world governing body has asked teams playing in France to bring changes forward. It means that Eddie Jones's Australia will play in white jerseys against Portugal instead of their normal gold.

i has consistently raised the issue of clashes of kit, on behalf of those with "colour vision deficiency" (CVD) – reckoned to be one in 12 men in the UK, and one in 200 women.

World Rugby published guidance on ways to assist in 2021, with the support of chairman Bill Beaumont, who is colour-blind.

But the body's executive board wanted to make this more explicit, and has now set a date in one and a half years for implementation in all the competitions they govern, notably the women's World Cup in England in 2025, and men's World Cups thereafter.

Australia's head coach Eddie Jones told ABC News Radio last month that his side would wear a new white alternate jersey in a World Cup warm-up match against France in Paris in August, to become accustomed to it ahead of their World Cup pool game with Portugal, who normally wear bright red, in Saint Etienne on 1 October.

"The big thing with colours is you have to be used to them, you have to be able to identify your team-mates very quickly," Jones said. "It's not our choice, it's forced on us by the organisers of the World Cup. It's there so we’ll make the best of it."

World Rugby's take is that Rugby Australia were supportive of the process, and the request to Australia was "would you consider changing?", to which Australia said "yes".

It is believed four other matches have been similarly affected, with speculation surrounding the pool that pits South Africa and Ireland (both of whom play in green) against Tonga in red, but it is not clear if any unions have said "no" to World Rugby's recommendation to change.

A World Rugby spokesperson said: "World Rugby supports initiatives that make the sport more inclusive, a stance underscored by the publication of colour-blind awareness guidelines.

"While the guidelines will not come into effect until 2025 for World Rugby competitions, we have been making moves to implement them.

"At Rugby World Cup 2023, we have collaborated with the participating unions to minimise colour blindness/colour vision deficiency issues wherever possible.

"In the small number of fixtures where there are challenges either as a result of this guidance or traditional kit clashes for broadcast where colours are similar or the same, unions have been supportive and accommodating. This collaboration is very much appreciated."

Kathryn Albany Ward of Colour Blind Awareness told i: "We very much welcome the progress being made by World Rugby and the Unions to avoid kit clash situations in this year's Rugby World Cup, not only for the benefit of thousands of colour-blind fans, but also for participants including, statistically, two to three players in every squad, and any colour-blind coaching staff and match officials."

World Rugby made a range of recommendations for the 2023 World Cup, on the back of tests of kit for broadcast quality made earlier this year.

In this routine process, unions submitted their primary and secondary kits – in some cases using designs not yet launched to the public – to be looked at in the French stadiums, under floodlights and daylight conditions.

This is normally aimed at picking up clashes of the same colour or tone that make TV viewing difficult, but this time World Rugby considered colour-blindness problems too.

All the combinations of team kits were compared, together with referees’ kits, and after further analysis, certain unions were asked not to play in their primary kit. The requests included changes of socks.

There is an operational list of "Team A" and "Team B" for each World Cup match, and Portugal as "Team A" versus Australia had first choice of kit.

With various types and severities of CVD, and consequently a range of problems with combinations of colours or shades, it is understood the relevant imagery showed the Portuguese jersey had a yellowish tinge that raised a colour-blindness issue.

In testing for players’ benefit, the key aspect is what they see at torso height as a team-mate or opponents is passing in their periphery.

Chris Paterson, the 109-times capped Scotland full-back, and four times a World Cup participant, has said unions would be "naïve" to ignore the often overlooked aspect of a team helping their own players.

Then there are the wider considerations, as World Rugby's guidelines cover many areas including signage for emergency situations, and training equipment.

But team apparel is the best-known example. And the January 2025 implementation date acknowledges that commercial agreements with kit suppliers, and decisions on colour palette and design, are agreed well in advance of competitions, so time is needed to adjust and evolve.

Most kit contracts also stipulate the number of times the primary kit is to be worn for the duration of the deal. This in turn feeds into the inherent value in the public's recognition of, and appreciation for, the traditional colours – Wales in red, Ireland in green, England in white, and so on.

The 2024 Six Nations will take place with, once again, scrutiny falling on the meeting of Wales, in red shirts and white shorts, and Ireland in green shirts and white shorts.

Both unions have previously indicated they were waiting for two things – the mandatory World Rugby guidance, and the expiry of existing kit deals.

It is thought Six Nations organisers are heading towards a regulation obliging the home team to change, but this is yet to be confirmed.

Albany-Ward met the Welsh Rugby Union's interim chief executive Nigel Walker recently and gave a demonstration of the red-green colour clash.

World Rugby has said, of the 250 million unique viewers who watched the 2019 Rugby World Cup held in Japan, approximately 12.9 million would have had some form of colour blindness, based upon a 62:38 male-female spectator profile.