France-England kit ‘shambles’ farce broke World Rugby rules

The France-England kit clash would almost certainly have been banned in the Rugby World Cup, but Six Nations bosses still allowed it, The i Paper has learned.

France wore a one-off pale-blue jersey with white shorts that was difficult for spectators and TV viewers to distinguish from England’s white jersey and shorts in last Saturday’s Six Nations finale.

ITV showed the match live to millions of viewers in the UK, as France beat England 48-46 in a thriller in Paris, but the broadcaster’s own X feed questioned the choice of shirts.

TV pundit and former England player Austin Healey wrote: “How have they let france wear light blue.”

New Zealander rugby journalist Jamie Wall wrote: “From spidercam at least this is one of the worst kit clashes in history.”

World Rugby’s guidelines to help spectators expressly advise against a range of clashes of kit, including “pastel colours, against each other or against white”.

These guidelines are written into World Rugby competitions such as the Rugby World Cup, where there is a robust broadcast and stadium testing process that includes comparing the kits under daytime and floodlit conditions.

The i Paper understands the France-England clash would have been highly unlikely to have passed, although it would have needed a thorough test to be certain. However, Six Nations is not a World Rugby competition and they have their own terms of participation.

France chose the pale-blue jersey to celebrate 120 years of playing against England, and the “adidas FFR Crunch 2026 Replica Jersey” retailing at 100 Euros has sold out on the French Rugby Federation’s official store.

England reportedly said their decision to stick with their white kit was not at their insistence.

Hard to distinguish players ‘mixed in with each other’

An industry expert said the main problem for spectators in the stadium and TV viewers was the high lux lighting creating a glare-type effect, making it difficult to discern the two shirts, particularly when players from both sides were mixed in with each other, and being viewed from a high or wide angle.

A separate issue is the France and England controversy may have unwittingly highlighted the problems faced by sufferers of colour blindness, at a time when Six Nations are understood to be reviewing their support for World Rugby’s colour-blindness guidelines.

Six Nations had been applauded by colour-blindness campaigners for acting against clashes of green and red kit: Wales wore a change white jersey against Ireland’s green in Dublin earlier this month.

But there have been grumbles from unions over being made to change from their most popular home jerseys, and it is understood Six Nations are citing fans’ moans over the move from traditional colours, a negative impact on team performance and the overall integrity of the competition.

As one viewer of France versus England wrote on X, “imagine banning red vs green to allow this kit clash shambles.”

ITV’s match commentator Nick Mullins advised viewers to look out for the teams’ red and blue socks as differentiation.