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24th May 2023
11:45am BST
Saracens and Sale Sharks will both wear their away kits in the Premiership final this weekend to help colour-blind supporters.
The two sides will meet at Twickenham on Saturday as they battle it out for the Premiership crown, but neither will be in their traditional home strip.
As the team who finished higher out of the two during the regular season, Saracens would have worn their black home strip for English rugby's showpiece event, with Sale in their maroon away kit.
But the black and red combination is among those highlighted by Colour Blind Awareness as being one to avoid for sports teams, for both spectators in the stadium and viewers at home.
So, Saracens will instead play in their white away strip, so as not to clash with Sale's maroon, offering a clear colour contrast.
The move is part Premiership Rugby's efforts to make rugby as inclusive as possible.
The league has been working with Colour Blind Awareness to ensure that the game is inclusive for all, with regulatory changes in place to make sure kit clashes never happen.
“We are delighted that Premiership Rugby and the clubs have taken positive steps to avoid kit clash situations for colour-blind fans and players,” Kathryn Albany-Ward, chief executive of Colour Blind Awareness, said.
“Bearing in mind the significant number of colour-blind people (one in 12 men and one in 200 women) who watch and play rugby, it is important that the accessibility needs of these groups are recognised to enable all fans of the sport to have a positive viewing experience that isn’t limited by avoidable colour clashes.”
Premiership Rugby’s head of broadcast Ollie Lewis added: “Our clubs have been overwhelmingly supportive of our ambition to eliminate kit clashes, with a collective desire to increase inclusivity of our sport to all audiences.
“There is no better example than the Gallagher Premiership Rugby final to highlight the importance of this issue, and we look forward to continuing to work with Colour Blind Awareness to ensure that we continue to make our league as inclusive and accessible as it can be.”
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