Despite the lack of Six Nations this week to get fans and others alike talking about rugby, the sport has seen a number of exciting announcements this week.
From new audio description at the Six Nations to changes to aid colour blindness and the England A announcement.
Here’s what you may have missed.
Six Nations audio description
The Guinness Six Nations, working with ITV, will see descriptive audio commentary for the first time in live sport in 2024.
The England match at Twickenham against Ireland next month will incorporate the tech to ensure that rugby viewing is the most inclusive yet.
Mark Trinder, ITV director of commercial sales and partnerships said: “The Guinness Six Nations is a huge sporting and broadcast event and at ITV we want to make sure our coverage is as accessible as possible to as big an audience as possible.
“Through partnering with Guinness on this trial to ensure alternative visually descriptive commentary, we’re continuing to evolve both how we work with brand partners and our broadcast and technology offering to bring the best experience to our viewers.”
Sonali Rai, Media, of the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB), said: “It is really encouraging to see ITV and Guinness taking the steps to include live descriptive commentary for this weekend’s coverage of the Six Nations.
“Simple steps like these make a huge difference to blind and partially sighted people – it breaks down a barrier that would otherwise prevent them from enjoying the game in the same way as their sighted peers.
“We’re delighted ITV and Guinness have taken this step and look forward to hearing how people with sight loss enjoyed the England vs Wales game at the weekend.”
This is a superb step for the sport to take.
Colour blind kits?
When Ireland and Wales clash in their iconic green and red kits this year it will be for the last time in the Six Nations.
Because from next year measures are to be taken that will help colour-blind people.
Despite receiving some kickback online from traditionalists, the move will ensure that rugby continues to try and be inclusive of all.
Welsh Rugby Union chief executive Abi Tierney said: “Kit colour clashes do change the way you watch a game, and I have absolute empathy with those whose enjoyment is affected as a result.
“Our current alternate kit is black, and we have used green in the recent past. Neither of these examples particularly help with this issue, and additionally, the colour red in Wales is not just traditional, but a part of our culture.
“But there are other ways to work around the issues, and kits with significantly different designs can help avoid the problem too.
“We need to think laterally about how we can overcome the issue ahead of next year, perhaps not just with more inventive use of colours, but in our kit designs too.
“If one team is in checks and the other is in stripes, for example, then colours become pretty irrelevant, but we are thinking hard about a solution that works for everyone.
“We recognise that this is a serious issue for many fans, and we are taking it very seriously ourselves.
“It is regrettable that we haven’t reached a resolution to suit all this season, but I can confirm we are fully committed to correcting that in the next kit cycle.”
England A
England named five capped players in a 27-man strong training squad for their upcoming ‘A’ fixture against Portugal in a fortnight.
“We’re delighted to see the return of A team rugby as such an important part of our development,” England coach Steve Borthwick said.
“We have selected players in this initial squad who we believe have the potential to be in the England team in the very near future.”
It will be the first ‘A’ fixture since 2016.
Some of the key names included were Jack Clement of Gloucester, Tarek Haffar of Northampton Saints and Guy Pepper of Newcastle Falcons.