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The Independent UK
The Independent UK
Harry Latham-Coyle

Why are Wales not wearing red shirts against Ireland in the Six Nations?

Wales and Ireland will no longer meet in their traditional red and green with the Six Nations announcing changes to their kit policy for last year’s edition.

Designed to make matches easier to watch for colour blind viewers who struggle to distinguish between the two colours, visiting teams have been asked to change kit when a colour match has been identified.

Wales will therefore where a change strip, rather than their traditional red, in Dublin in round four under rules that are also expected to apply at the 2027 World Cup.

It follows a switch in the 2024 championship from tradition that dictated that the home team wore an alternate strip in the event of a kit clash.

Colour blindness (colour vision deficiency, or CVD) affects approximately one in 12 men (8%) and one in 200 women. In the UK there are approximately 3 million colour blind people (about 4.5% of the entire population), most of whom are male.

The clash at the Aviva Stadium comes with hosts Ireland hoping to build on a superb win over England at Twickenham that kept their title hopes alive.

Wales, meanwhile, are searching for a first Six Nations win since 2023, though pushed Scotland close in their final outing before the fallow week.

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