FANS VENT THEIR ANGER OVER KIT CONFUSION
THE IRFU’s decision to move away from their traditional white alternate kit came back to haunt them on Saturday as their new dark grey jersey caused a confusing clash with South Africa’s traditional dark green kit.
Supporters watching on television were left perplexed as they struggled to tell the two teams apart throughout Ireland’s record victory.
In rugby, the home team generally changes their jersey in the event of a kit clash and the IRFU’s need to promote and subsequently sell the alternate kit left a sour taste with plenty of people.
It was the first time that Ireland have worn the new jersey, but they are unlikely to wear it in either of the two remaining games this month against Fiji and Argentina or, in fact, during the Six Nations.
Plenty of supporters took to Twitter to voice their anger as it led to a lot of confusion in attempting to differentiate between the two teams.
In a League of Ireland game last month, referee Anthony Buttimer delayed Limerick’s clash against Galway United by 25 minutes because he deemed that the Shannonsiders’ home shirt of blue with white sleeves clashed with Galway’s white away shirt.
Although Saturday’s Kiwi official Ben O’Keeffe was less picky, the whole farcical scenario could have been avoided if Ireland had stuck with their tried and tested, traditional white alternate kit.