Wallabies' bizarre jersey fail briefly overshadowed epic win over South Arica

The Wallabies' new jumper. Photo / Getty Images.

The Wallabies have left sport commentators cracking gags after they ran onto Suncorp Stadium on Saturday night with jerseys that included an unfortunate oversight.

The unexplained appearance of the Wallabies players wearing jersey numbers almost invisible to the human eye briefly overshadowed the epic 30-17 victory over South Africa.

The win has seen the Wallabies climb up to be the No. 3 ranked team in the world after a second half double to Marika Koroibete shut the door on the sloppy Springboks.

It is the Aussie's second win over South Africa in seven days, knocking their opposition off the top of the world rankings.

The result was almost lost in the bizarre jersey fail.

Australia's popular new permanent jersey design features a First Nations artwork printed on the numbers players are wearing on the backs of their jumpers.

The design has been a roaring success since it was announced earlier this month that the artwork by Indigenous artist Dennis Golding will be a permanent feature — but not if nobody can actually see it.

Social media lit-up early in the first half when the gold numbers with light green trim were near impossible for fans to see, blending into the rest of the jersey.

This is how it looked last week.

The Wallabies celebrate their win last week. Photo / Getty Images.

This is how it looked on Saturday night.

The Wallabies' new jumper. Photo / Getty Images.

While the Wallabies made a hot start to the match with two tries to Len Ikitau in the first 20 minutes - it was their jumpers creating the most chatter.

High profile business mogul Scott Phillips wrote on Twitter: "Wallabies jersey number idea: 10/10. Execution: 1/10.

"Surely* someone should have checked that it could be seen on TV."

The Canberra Times' Caden Helmers wrote: "Numbers on Wallabies jerseys were sweet last week when they used a green base on the gold jersey.

"Wondering if these - with a yellow base - are meant to be the ones used on the green Indigenous jerseys?"

Rugby jersey designers are the natural enemy of reporters.
How are you supposed to read the ⁦@wallabies⁩ jersey numbers from 100 yards away? pic.twitter.com/8OoYMUxRNz

— Mikey Stafford (@me_stafford) September 18, 2021