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Wallabies forced to wear white jersey in 'woke' World Rugby move
Story by Josh Alston For Daily Mail Australia • 5h ago
Alternative strips introduced for inclusivity
Colour blind rugby fans slam the policy
NZ and South Africa rail against the decision
The
Wallabies will have to wear a white jersey instead of their traditional green and gold kit in their last pool game against Portugal at the
Rugby World Cup 2023, as part of a new policy to accommodate fans with colour-blindness.
And other national teams are going to be forced to follow, including
New Zealand who will be forced to wear an alternative strip despite their
All Blacks branding.
The World Rugby policy, which was expected to come into practice in 2025, aims to make the game more accessible for those with colour vision deficiency (CVD).
According to World Rugby, one in 12 men and one in 200 women suffer from some sort of CVD, including chairman Bill Beaumont.
The regular Wallabies jersey will remain untouched, but the alternate strip will be predominantly white.
Former Wallabies Matt Giteau, Kurtley Beale and Adam Ashley-Cooper attend the captain's run ahead of the 2015 World Cup final in a white training strip© Provided by Daily Mail
The predominantly white Wallabies jersey that was made for the 2011 Rugby World Cup, but was never worn in competition© Provided by Daily Mail
Australia has created white clash jerseys in the past, they have not been called upon to wear them until now.
While Rugby Australia agreed to make this change, some nations are unhappy with the prospect of having to potentially change their traditional colours in the future.