World Rugby wants to introduce a law that makes it easier for colour blind people to watch red-green kit clashes in international matches, but accepts its jurisdiction is so far limited to the World Cup in SIX YEARS’ time.
The move, which will help people with colour vision deficiency (CVD), is set to impact on Wales and Ireland’s ability to wear their customary red and green jerseys respectively, should they go head-to-head at the 2027 tournament.
Research indicates more than 300 million people globally have some form of colour-blindness, with men particularly affected. Approximately one in twelve men have the condition, compared to one in 200 women. World Rugby are reportedly working with international organisation Colour Blind Awareness to devise a plan of action.
“From our perspective, if you’re potentially limiting 8 per cent of your male audience, that’s a huge huge number of people who are suddenly switching off,” World Rugby’s research, turf and equipment manager Marc Douglas told the UK’s i newspaper.
Given those statistics also point to there being between one and three players on average per international rugby squad with the condition, the move will assist colour-blind players as well as fans.
Johnny Sexton (Photo by Charles McQuillan/Getty Images)
Former Scotland great Mike Blair, who earned 85 international caps, believes World Rugby’s move is a step towards raising awareness of and normalising CVD issues.
“Colour blindness is largely misunderstood and the challenges for those who play, coach, officiate and support our sport is often overlooked,” Blair told the i.
“As someone who experiences those challenges first hand, I am delighted that World Rugby have launched comprehensive guidance for all levels of the game that place visually-impaired considerations at the heart of our decision-making.
“Through this guidance, we hope to raise awareness and change culture through positive actions.”
Complaints from fans after the Ireland-Wales match at this year’s Six Nations tournament have prompted the organisation to instigate the change. However, as terms of participation have already been agreed upon for the 2023 World Cup, they have no authority to force the two nations into avoiding a red-green jersey clash beyond asking nicely.
World Rugby also has no jurisdiction over the Six Nations tournament, meaning red-green clashes could still occur there moving forward.
The issues don’t solely affect Ireland and Wales, with reports of fan difficulties during this year’s British and Irish Lions tour of South Africa. The Lions, of course, wear predominantly red while the Springboks feature their iconic green strip.
Douglas hopes the sporting body’s move will encourage other sports, and the game in general, to follow suit.
“Hopefully by the time Rugby World Cup 2027 comes round, this is the norm,” he told the i.
piru
Roar Rookie
Mmmm indeed are you sure you're on the right article?
piru
Roar Rookie
How about a law about ANY uniform clashes, not just those impacting the colour blind? I mean we've seen just this year with the Argies and Aussies that there seems to be no consultation before a game as to what each side is going to wear.
QED
Roar Rookie
Cheslin Kolbe.
Purdo
Roar Rookie
It means the crowd has to keep a careful eye on which way their team is running! Colour is only one of the clues as to which is your team. That said, I am in favour of trying to make the playing teams' guernsies as different as possible from each other. Besides hue, there are always tone and pattern to consider.
Colin Fenwick
Roar Rookie
The red and greens were very bright and due to the amount of ragwort we sprayed, could almost be seen from the moon.
Big A
Roar Rookie
the mind boggles man - great sacrifice is required sometimes for people that worry about how they look - fortunately in my case there are no such issues
Englishbob
Guest
Its good job England play in white or dark blue otherwise the only way the colour blind would be able to discern them is by their crap play and lack of discipline
Daffyd
Roar Rookie
I had a comment that disappeared into the ether.... I ended up getting a glider license. Less hassle and a whole lot more fun. And the idea of flying as a career, is now long gone. But thanks for the suggestion. I had a elderly patient tell me that her husband had cheated on his colour blind test to become a pilot. He bought the book, memorised the test pages and got 100%! Turned out he was Squadron Leader and flew Lancasters as a in WW2.
Daffyd
Roar Rookie
I did learn to fly light aircraft at a young age, but, instead, of continuing down that path my flying went in a different direction and I took up gliding. (Like Saint Ritchie :) It was a lot less hassle and a helluva lot of fun. On tests... I had a elderly patient who when talking about flying and colour blindness mentioned that her hubby had been colour blind, but he had a career flying. I asked how he did it ,and she said he cheated. He purchased a colour blind test book (the dot one ) and memorised all the answers. He got 100%. Turned out he became a Squadron Leader in the UK flying Lancasters at night in WW2. And while I can see the electrical wires, blue, brown yellow/green, I'm very tentative and very, very cautious with electricity, after being kicked across the room when an old bakelite switch failed when I was 7 or 8 . Happy to get a pro to make any repairs! Cheers Mate!
adam smith
Roar Rookie
Hey DaffyD, thanks for the reply. Yup, couldn’t play cricket (as I can’t see the red ball at all) until the white ball came along. Didn’t help my cricket much, I was about as useful as Danny Morrison… can’t bowl either:silly: :silly:. On the plasma TV, it doesn’t matter what settings I change, the “red”s are over bright & nauseating after a period of time. When I’m allowed to watch the OLED it’s usually by myself, as when I change to the colourblind setting, it irritates my family’s eyes (has nothing to do with the 2 or 3 Rugby games I watch before a Test match either :laughing:). In regards to the pilot license, do they have a provision for you to sit the ‘Isihara Lantern Test’?! I work in the electrical trade industry & being colour blind is usually a no-no. Specially as I work in Rail. But upon failing the Colourblind-test (scoring a perfect zero from twenty), my Optometrist recommended I do the lantern test, which thankfully I passed…(which was good because I didn’t have pay the nurse the $500 I had hidden in an envelope in my pocket, for a pass :laughing: :silly:. It can allow you to bypass colourblindness failures in the entire electrical industry, I wonder if it will help in the aeronautical?!
Ankle-tapped Waterboy
Roar Rookie
A good idea and I support it. It will help identify players and separate the two teams. It's worth it for the better handling and more confident, less hesitant play that will arise. Nice to see a simple idea with no downside. Interesting to see the viewpoint in these comments that world hunger must be fixed first before doing anything on this issue. I didn't know it was an either-or. Weirdly, a lot of organisations I deal with are well able to do two things at once. Sometimes they will assign people accordingly: "Waterboy! World hunger for you. Your colleague is doing the colour blindness fix. Get snappy now!"
Daffyd
Roar Rookie
I don't understand why there are so many objectors -- when it would cost almost nothing to do, and possibly even add to a clubs bottom line by have more merchandise to sell.
Daffyd
Roar Rookie
Green? was it bright, it would have been hard to see... ragwort is awful stuff, we used to get it a lot in the Riverina (NSW). As far as 'stood out' goes, I had a boxer, back in the days when they cropped tails. They certainly did!
biltong
Guest
I don't see an issue with this at all. You often hear people that are not colour blind complain about jerseys that clash, in fact the first test between OZ and ARG there were complaints on the roar. Even for people with normal sight it is much easier to follow a game with two very distinctive colours that doesn't clash. Regardless of the percentage of colour blind people watching rugby, it is common sense.
Tim J
Roar Rookie
I totally agree Ben, are we not supposed to include all? I am not colour blind, but appreciate where they are coming from. They want to enjoy Sports like the rest of us so no problem with me.
Ben Pobjie
Expert
Those who oppose change on this front: have you considered that it would hurt absolutely nobody to do it? Benefit a small number of people; hurt zero people; sounds like a winner.
AndyS
Guest
If WR has nothing more to worry about than colour blindness, they should absolutely be looking to regulate shorts tightness...that can be life threatening. https://www.businessinsider.com.au/woman-hospitalized-after-she-developed-sepsis-jean-short-wedgie-2021-10
Colin Fenwick
Roar Rookie
I worked on a mates farm years ago in Tauwhare (near Hamilton) where we spent the spring spraying ragwort. It came with dye to include in the mix so you knew where you had sprayed. My mate was colour blind and the 2 options for the dye was green or red. To me, the dye stood out like dogs balls in the paddocks, but my friend couldn't see any of it. It sure was interesting.
Colin Fenwick
Roar Rookie
Seems that 8% may cover all types of colour blindness, whereas the more severe red-green forms (Protanopia & Deuteranopia) account for around 2%. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Color_blindness
Jacko
Roar Rookie
Struggling to put it mildly. Lucky I dont support a team that clashes in this sense.