‘Worst kit clash in history’ as fans blast ‘shameful’ France-England decision
England captain Maro Itoje and an inset of a scrum between France and England.
Allez le who? The final game of the 2026 Six Nations did not proceed without controversy as fans slammed the decision to allow both France and England to don lightly coloured kits.
The Super Saturday clash at the Stade de France was the 160th meeting of Le Crunch and to celebrate the occasion, the French Rugby Union and Adidas created a truly stunning jersey for Les Bleus.
The shirt is a throwback to the first meeting between the two nations, when France wore a jersey that was a far lighter blue than we have become accustomed to in the modern era.
The colours of England and France kits don’t usually clash, but the lighter blue, described by Planet Rugby writer James While as French chalk white, created an unbearable clash.
Kit-clash disater
When zoomed in, it was not too challenging to differentiate between the two sides, but with the wider angles, they were indistinguishable.
Last year, World Rugby made a policy to aid fans affected by colour blindness, which former Chairman Sir Bill Beaumont suffers from, which does not allow for two teams to play in dark colours and stopped green-red clashes.
This policy is only enforceable in World Rugby competitions and remains a guideline that the Six Nations has generally followed. However, for this clash, England opted to play the fixture in their traditional white.
Why are France wearing light blue in Six Nations clash with England?
That policy has been widely criticised as unnecessary by many and was raised once again as fans fumed about the clash that they had to endure during the action between France and England.
“Worst kit clash here. And I say that as a colour blind person,” one fan wrote on social media platform X.
Scrum for… #FRAvENG pic.twitter.com/jarC12AGDN
— Jared Wright (@jaredwright17) March 14, 2026
Another added, “Imagine banning red vs green to allow this kit clash shambles.”
Whilst many of the comments read along the lines of “Who the hell signed this kit clash off?”, “Right, who’s stupid idea was this kit clash?” and “That is the worst kit clash I’ve ever seen. It’s impossible to follow the game in the wider camera angles.”
New Zealand journalist Jamie Wall dubbed it as one of the worst clashes ever, with Super Rugby having a poor track record in this regard.
“From spidercam at least this is one of the worst kit clashes in history,” Wall wrote.
“The french kit is gorgeous. But England should absolutely be in their away kit,” another onlooker wrote, which was another common comment.
“The light blue v white was always going to be a bit of a clash, but my word. Shameful how the two teams couldn’t reach an agreement to avoid this disaster,” a viewer said.
Former England back Austin Healy, added: “How have they let france wear light blue.”