SA Rugby on Monday confirmed that South Africa will not wear their traditional green and gold Springboks jersey against Ireland in the Rugby World Cup (RWC) this weekend.
After starting the tournament with impressive wins over Scotland and Romania, South Africa take on Ireland on Saturday in their third Group A clash at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis.
There was an uproar after the Springboks’ first RWC outing against Scotland when they sported their alternate kit. As IOL Sport reported, the South Africans’ teal and white jersey - with teal shorts to match - has garnered a lot of debate, with fans loving and hating it in equal measure. SA Rugby calls this kit the ‘hyper-jade and white’.
More debate to come
It appears then that there will be more kit debate during and after Saturday’s clash, regardless of the outcome. Although, should Siya Kolisi’s Springboks lose - you can bet good money the kit will be used as one of the reasons to explain the result for SA fans.
SA Rugby issued a media advisory on Monday which said: “The Springbok primary jersey of green and gold is always worn as the first choice whenever permitted.
“On those occasions where a jersey clash must be avoided, the Springboks may be required to wear an alternate jersey.
“New colour blindness guidelines are in operation at the Rugby World Cup, which have increased the number of occasions on which one of the competing teams is required to wear an alternative jersey.
“South Africa was required to change for Scotland and will do so for the match against Ireland on 23 September.”
There will be some relief for nervy SA fans though, as the hyper-jade and white kit will not be used against Ireland. Instead, their more well-known and easily accepted jersey off all white with the hyper-jade collar will be used.
“South Africa’s first alternate is hyper-jade and white; the second alternate is white with a hyper-jade collar.
“The second alternate (all white) will be worn against Ireland as the hyper-jade is too like Ireland’s green jersey.”
Hyper-jade not going away
However, if the Springboks, as expected, make it out of their pool - the hyper-jade could be on display again.
“Should the Springboks progress to the knockout stages of the competition, and if they are drawn as Team B against a team with a clashing colour the team will wear the hyper-jade alternate as the first option.”
SA Rugby also went on to explain how they came up with the new jersey colours.
“Jerseys are designed by sports team apparel manufacturers and ultimately approved by the relevant federation.
“All the Nike jerseys provided to SA Rugby were presented to and received the seal of approval from a senior Springbok leadership group as well as SA Rugby management.
“The design of the hyper jade jersey was influenced by Ndebele design traditions and its colour – in addition to traditional white – was inspired by the colours of the flora and landscape of South Africa.”
An SA Rugby spokesperson said: “The Springboks are not permitted to wear the green and gold jersey in every Test match – as much as we would like to. The alternative jersey colour is white, but Nike proposed enhancing the plain look with a modern design drawing on various influences in a new combination to appeal to a new and wider audience. It was presented to senior Springboks, who gave it their seal of approval.”