Expect to see surprising colors for certain nations during the next rugby matches on TV.
At the start of each season, the new jersey worn by your favorite team is always something eagerly awaited, whether you are a fan of football, rugby or any other team sport. For some, the design of the tunic is not the reason for the purchase, but rather the passion, the desire to collect or quite simply the desire to have the new jersey of their favorite club to proudly show it to the public. stadium.
The jersey is specific to each club. If it is largely determined by the brand of the equipment manufacturer and to a very lesser extent, the sponsors, the color is generally a constant: it is historically and intimately linked to the city or the past of the club. On the football side, what would Olympique de Marseille be without its sky blue and white color? Could we still talk about the “Blood and Gold” if the RC Lens jersey changed or the “Reds and Blacks” if the Stade Rennais jersey had other colors? Same thing in rugby, since Stade Toulousain and Toulon will always also be home to the “Reds and Blacks”.
For the national selections, we also respect the historical colors of the country jerseys. For France, blue, white and red are always present, for the Netherlands, the color is found in the nickname with the Oranje. For Brazil, bright yellow is the predominant color, as is green for the Irish team.
But in rugby, things will change, because certain teams will no longer really be able to choose the color of their jerseys. The rule will be imposed from the next 6 Nations tournament. Ireland and Wales are concerned and will abandon their mythical green and red tunics respectively for the meetings between the two nations. Abi Tierney, Chief Executive of the Welsh Rugby Union said: “The difference in jersey colors changes the way you watch a game, and I have absolute empathy with those whose enjoyment is affected“.
Because mixing green and red will be banned during meetings for a good reason: it is about including visually impaired people and in particular color blind people who have difficulty distinguishing certain colors, most often green and red, but also more rarely blue. During the Rugby World Cup in France, South Africa already had to change its famous green tunic for a surprising jersey, mixing turquoise and white, against Scotland, traditionally playing in navy blue.
For the record, the president of World Rugby, Bill Beaumont, is himself color blind. The former captain of the XV de la Rose declared a few years ago that this handicap was “widely misunderstood” and the challenges for those who play, coach and referee are often overlooked. Former Scotland fullback legend Chris Paterson, who also suffers from color blindness, had spoken of the problems he faced during some matches .”I remember a night match with Edinburgh against the Scarlets who were playing in dark red. Many times I had run into what I thought was a space only to get completely crushed. There wasn’t really a clear division in my eyes…”