Credit: All Blacks/Getty Images

Specialty sports eyewear came under the spotlight during Rugby World Cup 2019 when All Black Ardie Savea wore specially-approved googles during a pool play game in Japan. The popular loose forward was acting on doctor’s advice by wearing the mask to protect his deteriorating eye sight for New Zealand’s match against Canada.

Savea told media in a pre-test interview that he had been battling ‘serious sight troubles’ in his left eye for some time. “A couple of years ago I realised I had bad vision in my left eye. Everything’s kind of blurry. I told All Blacks Doctor Tony Page that it was getting worse and now we’re doing something about it,” he said. “In terms of vision and seeing, it’s pretty sweet, and it’s now just a matter of getting used to them.”

After crowd chants for Savea to be subbed on, he entered the field in the 70th minute but removed the goggles two minutes later following two breakdowns in play. The next time he touched the ball, without the goggles, he knocked it on. In the following scrum he put the eyewear back on for the remainder of the match.

Irish-born Italian player Ian McKinley was the first rugby player to wear custom-made goggles in a competitive game back in 2014 after becoming blind in his left eye. In May this year, after rigorous testing, World Rugby approved the use of the goggles worn by Savea to allow players of all levels who are visually impaired to play the game.