Why the Springboks are playing in white jerseys against France after previously ignoring World Rugby’s pleas
The Springboks will not be donning their traditional Green and Gold jersey when they tackle France on Saturday evening. Here’s why.
While South Africa and Les Bleus wore their traditional strips the last time the two sides met at the 2023 Rugby World Cup, that will not be the case this time around as the visitors will be kitted out in their alternative white jerseys.
This is because of World Rugby adopting a policy, from 2025, that Test teams will have to wear ‘light’ or ‘dark’ kits to make it easier for spectators who are colour blind.
Dark colour clash
Colour blindness reportedly affects approximately 300 million people worldwide, including former World Rugby chairman Sir Bill Beaumont – with red/green types of colour blindness alone affecting eight per cent of males (0.5 per cent of women).
In an effort to make viewing the game easier for those fans, World Rugby implemented the policy in all World Rugby-run competitions, but it remains guidance for all other non-World Rugby competitions.
While the clash between Les Bleus and the Boks at the Stade de France is during World Rugby’s official international window, the Quilter Nations Series is run by the Six Nations, which have adopted the colour-blindness guideline in its competitions.
The Six Nations’ jersey policies have changed significantly in recent years, with the addition of players’ names to the back of the kit, while they also ditched the tradition of the home nation wearing their alternate jersey in the event of a kit clash.
Now, the home team wears its first-choice colours when facing off against visitors with a similar colour or one that conflicts with the World Rugby guidelines.
Notable examples of the above include all the Ireland teams, men’s, women’s and U20s, wearing their alternate jerseys in the Six Nations matches away to Wales earlier this year, while France donned their traditional blue when hosting the likes of Scotland and Italy.
So for the grudge match at the Stade de France on Saturday evening, it will be the Springboks who change to their lighter white jerseys as their dark Green kit conflicts too much with France’s dark blue kits.
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Springboks and All Blacks contest the guidelines
It has been widely reported that New Zealand Rugby and South African Rugby have no appetite to follow the Six Nations teams by adopting the guidelines as showcased during the 2025 Rugby Championship.
The Springboks and All Blacks both donned their traditional home jerseys in both matches in New Zealand and plan to do so again during the Greatest Rivalry Tour next year.
“While SA Rugby supports World Rugby’s ambition to make rugby as inclusive as possible, we have serious reservations about the potential impacts the application of the colour-blindness regulations may have, and believe they need further interrogation,” SA Rugby chief executive Rian Oberholzer told the Daily Maverick in 2023.
“For instance, it would mean that the Springboks and All Blacks would never meet again with both in their primary colours at any World Rugby event.
“The guidelines say that: ‘If only one person watching on the sidelines of the school field is having trouble following some elements of the game due to an avoidable kit clash, then rugby is letting them down.’
“But we believe that some or all of the 11 out of 12 males and 199 out of 200 women who are not colour-blind (on the statistical base presented) may also feel let down if the time-honoured traditions of the game are lost, setting aside the potential damage to the equity established in those colours and brands over centuries.
“We believe the impact on the game’s broader support base also needs to be considered. We will continue to engage with World Rugby on the subject.”
In this case, the Springboks have been forced to comply with the guideline despite ignoring World Rugby’s pleas, along with the All Blacks earlier in the year.
The Boks are likely to play in their change kit again next week when they face off against Italy, as the Azzurri wore their white kit when the sides faced off in July. It is worth noting that when South Africa and Italy women collided, the teams did wear their traditional colours.
In fact, Erasmus’ charges may only don the Green and Gold jersey just once this November, if that. When Ireland toured South Africa in 2021, it was the Springboks who changed kit to avoid a clash, and Planet Rugby understands that the Boks will in fact wear Green and Gold in Dublin.
Against Wales, it’s likely that the Boks will again have to comply with World Rugby’s guidelines.
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