Ireland women’s rugby makes uniform switch to combat ‘period anxieties’

Ireland women’s rugby team will make the switch from white to navy shorts this week in a move meant to combat the players’ “period anxieties,” the Irish Rugby Football Union announced Tuesday. 

The new uniforms will make their debut at the Women’s Six Nations tournament in Wales beginning on March 25, the IRFU announced in a press release Tuesday. 

The Ireland team huddle after the Womens Rugby World Cup 5th place semi-final at the Kingspan Stadium on August 22, 2017 in Belfast, United Kingdom.  (World Rugby via Getty Images/World Rugby via Getty Images)

“The Ireland women’s rugby team has chosen to change their traditional white shorts and instead make a permanent switch to navy. The move, which is led by world-leading kit supplier Canterbury of New Zealand and the IRFU, comes as a response to players’ feedback about period anxieties,” the press release read. 

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Ireland center Enya Breen called the change a “big step,” adding that it will allow players to “feel more comfortable on the field.”  

“The top way to ensure we perform to our best on the field is by removing any unnecessary distractions,” Breen said in a statement. 

Ireland players celebrate as Enya Breen scores her side’s second try during the Tik Tok Women’s Six Nations Rugby Championship match between Ireland and Scotland at Kingspan Stadium in Belfast.  (John Dickson/Sportsfile via Getty Images)

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“Wearing navy shorts instead of white is such a small thing, but for us it’s a big step from Canterbury and the IRFU. Our hope is that it will help women at all levels of rugby feel more comfortable on the field so they can get on with performing at their best in the game that they love.”

Ireland’s team looks on prior to the womens’ Six Nations rugby union match between France and Ireland at the Ernest Wallon Stadium in Toulouse, southern France, on February 3, 2018.  (REMY GABALDA/AFP via Getty Images)

The change comes months after Wimbledon updated its strict, all-white clothing policy in November to allow female tennis players’ to wear “solid, mid/dark-colored undershorts” during their menstrual cycles. 

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Sally Bolton, CEO of the All England Lawn Tennis Club, said at the time that the move would help players “focus purely on their performance by relieving a potential source of anxiety.”