Fiji's rugby team ditched plans to wear jerseys promoting the COVID-19 vaccination cause against the All Blacks in Dunedin on Saturday night, after late objection from some of the players.
The jerseys - received just days out from the match - sported the message "vaccinate Fiji", encouraging members of the Pacific Island nation - which is in the midst of a COVID-19 crisis - to immunise.
But late opposition from several players saw them revert to their original jerseys for reasons coach Vern Cotter later described as "complex", claiming they weren't consulted properly.
"That's a really complex question, and the answer is complex as well," Cotter said after Fiji fell to a gallant 57-23 loss to the All Blacks.
"We really haven't got the full answer. It was sprung on the players quite late in the piece, and there wasn't a lot of exchange and consultation.
"As you can imagine, it's a delicate subject for some, so it was probably better to just have a clean jersey at this stage, and spend some time on how we best want to communicate on this matter and how comfortable the players are in communicating it."
Fiji has been ravaged by a huge surge in coronavirus cases, culminating in a record daily high of 860 new cases on Friday.
There has been vocal opposition to vaccination from the prominent religious right, and there are fears this stand taken by the rugby-mad nation's beloved team will only further promote the dangerous anti-vax sentiment.
The idea for the message came from the team's primary sponsors, Fiji Airways, who have asked for an explanation as to why the message was abandoned.
"We had given up our [advertising] space [on the jersey] to push an important, life-saving message to support the efforts of Fijian front-liners battling the current COVID outbreak," says a spokesperson.
"We defer to Fiji Rugby to address the issue."
Fiji now travels to Hamilton to face the All Blacks in a second and final match of their series next weekend, when Cotter says the jersey issue will be revisited and discussed in further detail before they decide how to proceed.
"I think the team showed solidarity and strength with what they did, with a decision to postpone a real communication, and the way they played during the game I think will inspire people in Fiji to play rugby, and these guys were role models for today," Cotter adds.
"But like I said it's complex, and we need to work it out because it's not just sport we're talking about now. So, we'll just take time to communicate better in [the] future."
