Wales or Ireland might have to change out of their traditional jerseys if drawn together at the 2027 Rugby World Cup as World Rugby pushes ahead with plans to help color-blind fans by avoiding red-green kit clashes, Britain’s i reported.
The newspaper reported that about one in 12 men have some form of color blindness — with the condition lower among women — and added that there might be more than 3,000 fans who struggle to distinguish between colors in an average game.
Red-green color blindness is the most common form.
Photo: AP
“From our perspective, if you’re potentially limiting 8 percent of your male audience, that’s a huge, huge number of people who are suddenly switching off,” World Rugby research, turf and equipment manager Marc Douglas told the newspaper.
Last month, World Rugby in partnership with Colour Blind Awareness published a set of guidelines to help people involved in the sport facing challenges due to the condition.
The document highlighted the implications of color blindness in the areas of kit clashes, equipment and TV coverage among others, with World Rugby saying that it would work toward adopting them and encouraging stakeholders to support its effort.
“Hopefully by the time Rugby World Cup 2027 comes ’round, this is the norm,” Douglas said.
In 2019, a “See Green” Google Chrome extension was developed to help color-blind Irish fans watch their team at the Rugby World Cup in Japan.
The technology allowed fans to adjust colors on screens.
World Rugby chairman Bill Beaumont, who is color-blind, last month said that the condition was “largely misunderstood,” and the challenges for those who play, coach, officiate and support the sport are often overlooked.
Taiwan’s men’s table tennis team won bronze on Saturday at this year’s International Table Tennis Federation World Team Table Tennis Championships in London, matching the country’s best-ever finish at the regular tournament. Consisting of Lin Yun-ju, Taiwan’s top-ranked player at world No. 7, Feng Yi-hsin, Kuo Guan-hong, Hong Jing-kai and Hsu Hsien-chia, the team won bronze after losing 0-3 to Japan in the semifinals. In the opening match, 24-year-old Lin played the first game against world No. 3 Tomokazu Harimoto 11-5, but ultimately lost the next three closely contested games 9-11, 10-12 and 10-12. Feng then faced world No. 8 Sora Matsushima in
Lin Yun-ju on Thursday handed Taiwan two key victories as they advanced to the semi-finals of the ITTF World Team Table Tennis Championships Finals in London. The Taiwan men’s table tennis team beat Sweden 3-2 in five singles matches. The 24-year-old Lin, Taiwan’s top-ranked player at world No. 7 and nicknamed the “Silent Assassin,” opened the tie by defeating world No. 2 Truls Moregard 3-0 (11-8, 11-9, 13-11) before clinching the deciding fifth match with a 3-0 (11-8, 11-9, 11-5) win over Anton Kallberg to hand his team the overall victory. Kuo Guan-hong put Taiwan up 2-0 with a 3-2 (4-11, 11-8, 8-11,
Taiwanese fire dancer Yang Li-wei advanced to the final of Britain’s Got Talent this weekend after receiving a Golden Buzzer during her live semi-final performance. Yang, a member of Taiwan’s Coming True Fire Group, awed judges and audiences with a high-intensity fire performance featuring flaming umbrellas, fire swallowing and spinning metal structures balanced with her legs. Judge Simon Cowell praised Yang as a star, while guest judge KSI reacted with amazement before pressing the Golden Buzzer, sending her to the finals. The dance group wrote on social media that the Golden Buzzer was “the highest honor” on the talent show, adding: “Twenty-three years
As Super Rugby fast approaches its playoff season it finds itself racing toward a reckoning with many issues that threaten the southern hemisphere tournament. A group of stakeholders met in the New Zealand city of Christchurch late last month to address problems that are making the future of the 31-year-old competition increasingly tenuous. The discussion was made more urgent by the decision by the owners of Moana Pasifika to fold the Auckland-based club for financial reasons. That followed the closure of the Melbourne Rebels at the end of the 2024 season, likewise because of financial difficulties. Problems addressed included player retention as more
RSS