Wales v Ireland kit ban forces historic Six Nations change
Ireland will not be donning their iconic green shirts when they travel to Wales for their Six Nations clash on February 22, in a move that aims to be benefit colour-blind fans.
The Irish will instead wear their alternate white jerseys, while Wales will run out in their traditional red, with the decision falling in line with World Rugby's new colour blindness policy. As of this year, all teams are now mandated
Around one in 12 men and one in 200 women suffer from some form of colour-blindness, and may of those sufferers have been unable to distinguish between red and green jerseys.
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The move has been welcomed by campaigners, with Kathryn Albany-Ward, founder of Colour Blind Awareness telling the Daily Mail: "It's fantastic news. Finally, they are going to make sure that colour-blind people can follow the game.
"Many thousands of fans will be delighted. I hope it is going to continue and isn't a one-off.
"This benefits everyone - including the players who often don't feel they are able to speak up,' she said. 'If eight per cent of men are affected, then that means there will be two to three players in every squad who are impacted in some way.'
"It's just common sense. With so many people in the population affected it never made sense not take care of your players and your fans.
"It's just a shame that it has taken them this long to get to this stage."
The move comes a year after Wales found themselves on the receiving end of criticism for refusing to wear their black alternate kit in the same fixture, a decision they claimed was due to the short turnaround.
