The final match of the 2026 Six Nations promises to be a tough watch with an easily avoidable kit clash between France and England on the cards.
Le Crunch is easily one of the most highly anticipated Six Nations annual fixtures, with the Championship’s historically most successful teams going toe-to-toe.
While that remains the case this year, the meeting at the iconic Stade de France is bound to be marred by a frankly stupid jersey colour clash.
Kit clash on the cards
This is because the French Rugby Federation and adidas have released an anniversary jersey to celebrate 120 years of Le Crunch.
“Drawing directly from the history of the rivalry, the design of the match jersey – and its replica version – references the original light blue jersey worn by the French team in 1906 for their first fixture against England,” A statement confirming that France will be donning this jersey in the clash read.
“The 1927 FFR logo adorned on the collection denotes the year of the French team’s first victory against England, while the ‘Tricolore’ stripes are a nod to the French rugby kits of the late 80s and 90s, when adidas was the kit supplier of the federation.”
😍✨ Nouvelle collection disponible, pour fêter les 𝟏𝟐𝟎 𝐚𝐧𝐬 𝐝𝐮 𝐜𝐫𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐡 !
👇👇👇https://t.co/NjBfuaHyF9 https://t.co/6bR26dXSYx pic.twitter.com/lcZ2rCT7K9
— France Rugby (@FranceRugby) February 28, 2026
Usually, the two teams contest Le Crunch in their traditional blue and white colours, but the pale blue of the celebratory kit creates a clear and obvious issue, as the TMOs would say.
Whilst this is easily fixable by England simply donning their alternative darker kit, which features the outlines of the Allianz Stadium, Steve Borthwick’s men will wear their traditional white instead – Planet Rugby has learnt.
The French kit has been a real hit amongst fans since it was released late last month with the initial stock of replica kit quickly selling out while the anniversary collection of long-sleeved jerseys and jackets remains hugely popular.
However, the reaction to the much-loved kit promises to be far more contrasting on Saturday with the pale colours bound to cause frustrations for supporters.
The colour of kits have been a hotly debated topic in recent times after World Rugby introduced a policy from January 1, 2025 which restricts the combination of certain kit colours on a pitch, which affects those with colour blindness.
While the policy is enforced in World Rugby tournaments, like the Junior World Championship and World Cup, it remains optional in others like the Six Nations and Rugby Championship.
Six Nations Rugby opted to adopt it in 2024 which meant that the away team in Ireland and Wales matches, for example, donned their alternate kit to make it easier for fans have colour blindness or colour vision deficiency with red/green types of colour blindness reportedly affecting around eight per cent of males.