Why Ireland are wearing white against Wales as lifetime Six Nations ban announced
When Ireland take to the field at the Principality Stadium on Saturday, they will do so not in their traditional green jerseys, but in an alternate white strip.
The historic change is part of a move to benefit colour blind fans, with colour blindness affecting around one in 12 men and one in 200 women according to the NHS. Over the years, the combination of Welsh red and Irish green has proved frustrating for those affected, with red-green colour blindness the most common form of the condition.
As a result, there have long been calls for one of the sides to play in a changed strip when they meet in the Six Nations, but for years they went unanswered.
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Since January, however, World Rugby's colour blindness guidelines has become policy in all of the governing body's competitions, with teams now mandated to avoid kit clashes which could negatively impact colour blind viewers.
As well as avoiding clashes between red and green, the guidelines also advise that "one team should play in a dark kit and the other in a light kit” to prevent any further issues.
World Rugby also recommends that teams who play primarily in a dark colour should have a light alternate kit, and vice versa, which is why Wales changed their away shirt from black to white for this season.
The guidelines also state that “primary and alternate kits should be able to play against each other without causing a colour blind kit clash”, and so while Wales will take to the field in their iconic red jerseys, Irish players will be donning a white kit.
The move has been welcomed by campaigners, with Kathryn Albany-Ward, founder of Colour Blind Awareness telling the Daily Mail that it is "fantastic news".
"Finally, they are going to make sure that colour-blind people can follow the game," she said. "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. 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," Albany-Ward added. "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 after Wales were criticised for refusing to wear their black alternate kit in last year's meeting with Ireland. At the time it was claimed that the alternate strip would not particularly help to solve the issue nor would a green strip which had been worn by Welsh teams in the past.
However, Albany-Ward said that was simply not the case and claimed Six Nations organisers were told green versus black would not cause a problem for colour blind viewers.
