Thousands of fans to be left unable to watch Wales vs Ireland Six Nations clash as kit rule ‘kicked down the road’
THOUSANDS of fans will struggle to watch Wales vs Ireland in the Six Nations next weekend.
The head to head in Dublin is set see a kit clash that will leave those with colour-blindness unable to distinguish which team is which.
Campaigners have been disheartened to learn from the WRU that visitors Wales will wear their traditional red and hosts Ireland will don their iconic green shirts.
Around eight per cent of men and less than one percent of women have some form of red-green colour deficiency and will therefore be impacted by the choice of strips for the match-up.
As the away team, Wales could choose to wear their black and yellow alternate kit to avoid creating an issue for fans watching on from home and in the stands.
And Kathryn Albany-Ward, founder of non-profit organisation Colour Blind Awareness, has been left frustrated with the WRU after pleaing with them to make a change.
She told Mail Online: “I spoke with (Chief Executive) Nigel Walker from the WRU personally last Spring to make him aware of the issue and before that we’d already been in discussions with the WRU’s kit staff.”
New World Rugby rules are set to come into place next year to prevent kit clashes from occurring and Kathryn explained that she feels the changes have been ignored until that date rolls around.
She said: “It just feels like the issue has been kicked down the road until then and I don’t really understand why.
“France managed to play in their change strip against Scotland.”
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A similar issue occurred in football earlier this year when Newcastle United faced fierce rivals Sunderland in the FA Cup.
The Tyne-Wear derby saw both sides wear their home kits that are predominantly white stripes.
Ireland will be hoping to continue their perfect start to this year’s Six Nations when they do host Wales next week.
Andy Farrell’s side are currently topping the table after their high-scoring wins over both France and Italy.
Wales on the other hand are yet to win a match after narrow losses to both Scotland and England in their opening two clashes.
