The Springboks will close out their 2025 international season in their alternate white jersey when they face Wales at the Millennium Stadium on Saturday.
The decision to wear the kit is driven by World Rugby’s colour-blindness guidelines.
South Africa wearing white has become a common sight this November. Rassie Erasmus’ men ran out in their alternate strip against both Italy and France, before Ireland opted to change kits last weekend to maintain the long-standing rugby tradition of the home team switching to the away kit.
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However, that tradition will not apply in Cardiff. Instead, it will be the Springboks who move away from their iconic green and gold after World Rugby deemed the combination of South Africa’s green and Wales’ red a colour-blindness clash.
Colour-blindness affects an estimated 300 million people worldwide. Red-green colour-blindness alone impacts around 8% of men and 0.5% of women, including former World Rugby chairman Bill Beaumont.
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With visibility and spectator experience increasingly prioritised, the governing body’s guidelines recommend avoiding kit combinations that are challenging to differentiate.
These guidelines are enforced in World Rugby-run competitions – with some exceptions, like the 2023 World Cup final between the Springboks and All Blacks – but remain advisory elsewhere.
The Six Nations has already adopted the policy across its senior men’s, women’s and U20 tournaments, which is why the Autumn Nations Series – administered by the Six Nations – follows the same approach.
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Photo: Roberto Bregani/Getty Images
