Why Ireland are wearing a non-traditional kit vs Wales this weekend

It won't be the famous green strip.

Ireland vs Wales in the Six Nations this weekend is going to look very different than the usual.

That is because we will not be looking at the traditional green against red, due to new regulations from World Rugby.

First rolled out in 2021, these regulations came into effect on January 1, 2025, and they are designed to support fans and players that suffer from colour blindness.

Colour vision deficiency, or CVD, affects roughly one in 12 men and one in 200 women.

Red vs green is a colour clash for them, and makes it hard to tell teams wearing these kits apart.

Scotland great Chris Paterson described the difficulty he faced as someone with CVD:

"I remember playing at night-time when we played for Edinburgh and Scarlets would come up in their dark red. I remember a couple of times making a line-break on a counterattack, running into what I thought was space between two of my own men and just getting totally smashed.

"Your focus is on the ball, you’re running and scanning the whole time... [it’s] because there’s not that real clear division in our eyes, I suppose."

Traditionally in rugby, the home side have changed their jersey, but the regulations say that the away side must now change, similar to football.

Ireland have unveiled their white strip, with green lines running through it, and the regular red Vodafone logo.