Springboks and All Blacks give World Rugby's fashion advice the boot

Scott Robertson's charges will don their famous black jersey, while Jesse Kriel will lead out the visitors in the iconic Green and Gold strip, as New Zealand Rugby and South African Rugby reject the governing body's plea for more contrasting kits.

For the last 104 years of the rivalry, neither team has worn an alternative from their traditional colours in this fixture, but a World Rugby policy introduced from the beginning of 2025 threatens that tradition.

World Rugby adopted a policy that Test teams will have to wear 'light' or 'dark' kits from 2025 to make it easier for spectators who are colour blind. 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 fans, World Rugby implement the policy in all World Rugby-run competitions, but it remains guidance for all other non-World Rugby competitions.

New Zealand's black and South Africa's dark green are not considered enough of a contrast, which led to the Junior Boks donning a white jersey in the World Rugby U20 Championship earlier this year.

During the 2023 Rugby World Cup, the policy was still a guideline, but the likes of Portugal, Wales, Georgia, Ireland, Tonga and South Africa wore alternate kits and were praised for doing so, but in the final, the Springboks and All Blacks continued with their first-choice jerseys.

A move they will continue with, according to The Post, which got confirmation from both unions that the traditional black and green jerseys will be worn.

The Rugby Championship is a SANZAAR-run competition, meaning that they are free to do as they please and unlike the Six Nations, they will not be making the change just yet.

The Six Nations unions have made several changes to their jersey policies in recent years, with all the teams now adding the players' names to the back of the kits. They have also adopted the World Rugby guideline, with Ireland and Wales notably alternating their kits when facing off.

Additionally, the home nation has worn their first-choice colours when facing off against visitors with a similar colour; France donned their traditional blue when hosting the likes of Scotland and Italy, for example.

Previously, the tradition was for the hosting nation to change to an alternate kit, which has changed for the Six Nations, but it is not the international standard. South Africa wore white when hosting Ireland last year, while it was France who changed for their three Tests against the All Blacks this July.

According to The Post, New Zealand Rugby and South African Rugby have no appetite to follow the Six Nations teams' suit with changing kits and will continue to take the field in their usual strips for both Tests during this year's Rugby Championship.

"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," chief executive Rian Oberholzer told the South African publication.

"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."