Highlanders’ jersey clash off Sanzaar’s charts
Sanzaar has vowed to prevent a repeat of the farcical jersey clash that threatened to turn the first half of the Highlanders-Bulls match in Pretoria into a circus.
Many New Zealanders who tuned into the Super Rugby match in the early hours of last Sunday morning were shocked to discover both teams wearing jerseys so similar it was difficult to tell them apart.
The Highlanders, who were thumped 38-13, wore an ‘‘away’’ strip that comprised a light green top and shorts, while the Bulls were fitted out in their ‘‘home’’ uniform of light blue jerseys and shorts.
From the moment the players left the changing sheds it was apparent there was a major problem and, just to add to the confusion, each set of jerseys was decorated with a similar pattern.
Highlanders fan Mark Currie got up early to watch the game and thought his eyes were deceiving him.
‘‘I thought is it just me? Is my TV playing up?’’ Currie said.
‘‘It was unwatchable at times,’’ he said. ‘‘I love an up and under from Aaron Smith, but after the ball had gone up you couldn’t tell who was who.
‘‘Honestly, it was as bad as I have ever seen it. There have been some bad ones in recent years but that was really bad. I was going to turn it off at halftime.
‘‘In hindsight I wished I had, but that’s another story.’’
Although the clash of colours could have led to some embarrassing mistakes from the players, it was a credit to their concentration they didn’t make any glaring errors.
The Bulls rectified the situation at halftime, ditching their gear to wear white jerseys with a yellow trim for the final 40 minutes.
The swap also inspired the Bulls to turn around a five-point deficit to romp home for their first win of the season, with wing Rosko Speckman scoring a hattrick in the second spell.
A Sanzaar spokesman provided a statement to Stuff when asked to explain how it would prevent a repeat of this ridiculous situation.
‘‘Sanzaar is disappointed that the jerseys for the Bulls [blue shirts] versus Highlanders [green shirts] match on the weekend appeared to cause confusion,’’ the statement said.
‘‘The Bulls changed strip at halftime to alleviate the issue and Sanzaar will endeavour to ensure similar confusion does not take place in the future.’’ It would clearly be in Sanzaar’s best interests to ensure that’s the case.
The Sanzaar spokesperson referred Stuff to the ‘‘jersey clash chart’’ issued by the competition’s governing body at the start of the season.
That appears to have been what caused the confusion.
The jerseys pictured in the chart aren’t a genuine reflection of the jerseys worn at Loftus Versfeld.
On a computer screen they are of contrasting colours and shades, and management from both teams probably didn’t foresee any issues until both sets of teams were on the field.