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Eddie Jones has revealed the Wallabies will wear their new white jerseys in a World Cup warm-up match against France in August in response to new international guidelines to help colour blind supporters.
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The Wallabies cannot wear their famous gold against Portugal in one of their World Cup pool matches in France and in preparation will wear white against the French in an effort to get used to the colour.
Jones told ABC News Radio sport reporter Catherine Murphy: “We just have to make sure the players are used to it. The big thing with colours is you have to be used to them, you have to be able to identify your teammates very quickly.
“It’s not our choice, it’s forced on us by the organisers of the World Cup. I don’t worry about things we can’t control. It’s there so we’ll make the best of it.”
Australian rugby union is facing flak from its league rivals over players switching codes but Jones opted to side step the latest flare up. Joseph-Aukuso Sua’ali’I is moving to rugby union for the 2025 season, and Broncos Payne Haas has also become involved in the row.
“I’m not involved in that (Haas) and, to be honest, with that I don’t have any interest other than watching and enjoying NRL. I’m only interested in the next five months. We have a smash and grab, we have to get our team together, we have to work out a way to play together and to win — firstly in Pretoria, where Australia has never won in the history of the game.
“He (Haas) is not going to play in that game so I don’t really have much interest.”
“I don’t read those headlines and I don’t take too much notice of it. I think it’s fantastic for sport to have a little bit of rivalry. I’m sure some people find it amusing and others find it boring.”
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Jones held his first training camp as Wallabies coach last month and brandished a cattle prod having said he may need one for underperforming rugby league convert Suliasi Vunivalu.”The cattle prod worked. It gives you a bit of a shock, the cattle prod. He did really well but it’s like any other player, there’s massive competition in that wing spot,” added Jones.
“We’ve got Mark [Nawaqanitawase] from New South Wales, we have young [Max] Jorgensen, we have [Marika] Koroibete who we caught up with on Monday.
“There’s huge competition for those wing spots and for Suli (Vunivalu) it’s about keeping improving, keep working on his game, getting a little bit fitter, getting more touches of the ball.We know he’s a great player and he’s moving in the right direction.”
What would be wrong with green and gold HOOPS?
First it was about black n whites
Then about LGBTQWXYZ
now it's colour blindness
It should only be about sports and having one represent their country.
Also, for those who don't know - colour blind people only have problems distinguishing between certain colours - they are not totally blind 🦯
I spoke to some colour blind people and they think it's utter nonsense