Kiwi sports brand Canterbury of New Zealand has apologised for an "error" they made by using models rather than players to launch the new Ireland women's rugby jersey.
When unveiling the new design of Ireland's rugby jerseys, the men's jersey was modelled by Irish internationals, inducing NZ-born midfielder Bundee Aki, Robbie Henshaw and Connor Murray but the women's version was marketed by models.
The decision to use models caused backlash on social media, considering this was the first time the men and women would be wearing different jerseys - previously, the jersey was the same design but the ladies had "women" stitched under the crest.
Wasps women's player Florence Williams was the first to notice the discrepancy and labelled it a "missed opportunity" while sharing examples of other teams who used men's and women's players to model their new jersey including the Scotland national team.
Canterbury explained that the coronavirus pandemic had halted production of the jerseys and they were unable to get them to the women's players in time, but have now vowed to use men and women players in every shoot moving forward.
"As a brand, we believe in putting our hands up if we get something wrong," says Canterbury of NZ.
"To announce that our new Ireland Women's pro jersey was available for pre-order, we super-imposed the jersey's image onto a model to share this exciting development with our dedicated female players and fans.
"It was always, and remains, our intention to photograph female players in the new jersey and we remain committed to supporting the talented women in our rugby community on and off the field.
"While the image was primarily designed for our website, which also features male models, it has understandably caused frustration. We accept this was an error and apologise for any upset caused.
"At Canterbury, we believe that rugby is for everyone and we're united by our mutual love of the game.
"We look forward to sharing our 'A New Horizon' campaign to support the launch of our Ireland Women's pro jersey in October, with the same commitment and dedication that we have for all our teams."
New Zealand is due to host the women's' Rugby World Cup next year.
Canterbury was formed in 1904 and is the current kit provider for numerous rugby teams around the world.
