Why the Red Roses need female representation: 'It's a massive opportunity missed.'
People have asked me if I think Simon Middleton should stay as England’s head coach. I think England need something different and new, you could argue if there wasn’t the red card during the final, would the same conversations be happening, but regardless, you’ve always got to have those conversations.
For me, it’s a natural time for a change, I’m not saying that Simon isn’t capable of doing the job and potentially taking the team to another World Cup final but maybe this is the right time for new voices, fresh ideas and different perspectives on things.
Time is ticking, it’s going to be January soon and by the end of March players will be in Six Nations prep, so if things are going to change they need to happen quickly or if they are staying with the status quo, that needs to be announced soon too.
In terms of the post-World Cup RFU performance review, I think it would have been good for the public to know what the process is behind it and who is involved. The fact that they are not making the findings public is disappointing.
I also find myself asking the question, does the coaching set up need to look different physically? Is it lacking a female representative in there?
Speaking from personal experience, having Amy Turner come in as head coach at Harlequins, there’s a whole list of reasons why this suits me as a female player. She’s a former player and teammate, has a slightly different perspective on things, can really relate, is really empathic and I think there is a place for that in a team of female athletes.
When I first played for England in 2006, Giselle Mather was my backs coach and she made the experience so positive. She’s a mother, I was a young player, and having that role model and someone with motherly instincts around me 100% had an impact, and that’s no disrespect to the male coaches at the time. I’m just not sure they’d have picked up on those smaller aspects.
If you think about how young the current England team is, there is a massive cohort below the age of 25. I think it could be a real asset to have a female coach involved who could really impact on that group. A lot of our male coaches that England have had have played high level rugby but not played for or captained their country and there are a lot of women who can bring that insight, empathy, understanding and perspective to the table for the Red Roses.
Why would we not invest in having women coaches involved in the programme? And I mean officially, not in an interim role or on a coaching scheme, but fully integrated, fully part of decisions, fully part of developing and running the programme, it’s a must in my opinion.
Also for me, former players such as Rocky Clark retiring when she did, she was always one of the best scrummagers in the world, as was Sophie Hemming and you ask yourself, why didn’t England get them involved when you’ve got the likes of Sarah Bern, Shaunagh Brown, Hannah Botterman, learning how to be world class props? It begs the bigger question of why the Red Roses don’t utilise the rich experience of past players?
Tamara Taylor was queen of the lineout and ran that set piece for the best part of ten years, why not utilise that experience to mentor someone like an Abbie Ward? I myself, would be keen to be a mentor to the current England players, or perhaps previous captains such as Sue Day, Jo Yapp, Catherine Spencer, Gill Burns- why not leverage their support in the leadership programmes in the team?
You see Wayne Smith do it ahead of the World Cup earlier this year, calling on experienced All Blacks. But these women who have played for England, a lot of them are qualified Level 3 or Level 4 coaches, they have years of experience, I think it’s a no brainer to get them inside and bolster that. You would also hope they call upon the likes of Sarah Hunter and Emily Scarratt when they leave the programme.
You don’t want too many voices, but why didn’t we have a Katy Daley Mclean mentoring Zoe Harrison or Helena Rowland going into their first World Cups? She’s a World Cup winning captain and ten and also brings that female perspective. Let’s utilise the greatness of what England has created over the years and have them involved in some shape or form. It’s surprisingly not been considered and down to lack of creativity. Sadly, I think it’s a massive opportunity missed for the team.
From an English perspective, when you lose a World Cup, it’s challenging to come home from that competition and focus on what’s next. You’re grieving from the pain from losing something that you focussed on for so long. I would argue that this cycle is different though, this is such a tight turnround between now and 2025. You have three Six Nations campaigns which is 15 games, and three more games in the WXV each year, so if you actually look at how many games you’ll have before the next World Cup, it isn’t many.
As 2025 is in England, they’ll be keen to build on what they’ve created over the past few years with their fan base and I bet they can’t wait to get back out and back to winning ways, with the Six Nations match against France at Twickenham already on the horizon!
With the World Cup behind us now, we look forward to next year and the start of the new global tournament, WXV. One of the reasons why Rugby World Cup 2021 was such a success and the standard was so high, was due to the amount of fixtures the teams had leading into that tournament in comparison to previous World Cups, all teams went in really well prepared.
As well as provide more game time to nations, the WXV will also allow us to keep building those narratives and stories surrounding the game which captures the personalities of the players. We don’t want to hear from the likes of Ruby Tui, every four years, we want to see her monthly or even weekly. Ultimately, that’s why people invest as they feel connected to the players and teams.
The WXV has the potential to sustain those story lines, build more knowledge around the different teams and get rid of any preconceptions people might have had around certain nations by being able to watch them play on a more regular basis, and not just in World Cup years.
Comments on RugbyPass
Thanks Brett, love your articles which are alway pertinent. It’s a difficult topic trying to have a panel adjudicating consistently penalties for red card issues. Many of the mitigating reasons raised are judged subjectively, hence the different outcomes. How to take away subjective opinions?
4 Go to commentsYes Sir! Surprising, just like Fraser would also have escaped sanction if he was a few inches lower, even if it was by accident that he missed! Has there really been talk about those sanctions or is this just sensational journalism? I stopped reading, so might have missed any notations.
4 Go to commentsAI is only as good as the information put in, the nuances of the sport, what you see out the corner of the eye, how you sum up in a split second the situation, yes the AI is a tool but will not help win games, more likely contribute to a loss, Rugby Players are not robots, all AI can do if offer a solution not the solution. AI will effect many sports, help train better golfers etc.
45 Go to commentsIt couldn’t have been Ryan Crotty. He wasn’t selected in either World Cup side - they chose Money Bill instead. And Money Bill only cared about himself, and that manager he had, not the team.
25 Go to commentsYawn 🥱 nobody would give a hoot about this new trophy. End of the day we just have to beat Ireland and NZ this year then they can finally shut up 🤐
13 Go to commentsTalking bout Ryan Crotty? Heard Crotty say in a interview once that SBW doesen't care about the team . He went on to say that whenever they lost a big game, SBW would be happy as if nothing happened, according to him someone who cares would look down.. Personally I think Crotty is in the wrong, not for feeling gutted but for expecting others 2 be like him… I have been a bad loser forever as it matters so much to me but good on you SBW for being able to see the bigger picture….
25 Go to commentsThis sounds like a WWE idea so Americans can also get excited about rugby, RUGBY NEEDS A INTERNATIONAL CALENDER .. The rugby Championship and Six Nations can be held at same time, top 3 of six nations and top 3 of Rugby championship (6 nations should include Georgia AND another qualifying country while Fiji, Japan and Samoa/Tonga qualifier should make out 6 Southern teams).. Scrap June internationals and year end tours. Have a Elite top six Cup and the Bottom 6 in a secondary comp….
13 Go to commentsThe rugby championship would be even stronger with Fiji in it… I know it doesen’t fit the long term plans of NZ or Aus but you are robbing a whole nation of being able to see their best players play for Fiji…. Every second player in NZ and AUS teams has Fijian surnames… shame on you!!! World rugby won’t step in either as France and England has now also joined in…. I guess where money is involved it will always be the poor countries missing out….
84 Go to commentsNo surprise there. How hard can it be to pick a ball off the ground and chuck it to a mate? 😂
2 Go to commentsSometimes people just like a moan mate!
4 Go to commentsexcellent idea ! rugby needs this 💪
13 Go to comments9 Brumbies! What a joke! The best performing team in Oz! Ditch Skelton for Swain or Neville. Ryan Lonergan ahead of McDermott any day! Best selection bolter is Toole … amazing player
12 Go to commentsI like this, but ultimately rugby already has enough trophies. Trying to make more games “consequential" might prove to be a fools errand, although this is a less bad idea than some others. Minor quibble with the title of the article; it isn’t very meaningful to say the boks are the unofficial world champions when it would be functionally impossible for the Raeburn trophy not to be held by the world champions. There’s a period of a few months every 4 years when there is no “unofficial” world champion, and the Raeburn trophy is held by the actual world champions.
13 Go to commentsIts a great idea but one that I dont think will have a lot of traction. It will depend on the prestige that they each hold but if you can do that it would be great. When Japan beat the Boks (my team) I was absolutely devestated but I wont deny the great game they played that day. We were outclassed and it was one of the best games of rugby I have seen. Using an idea like this you might just give the the underdog teams more of an opportunity to beat the big teams and I can absolutely see it being a brilliant display of rugby. They beat us because they planned for that game. It was a great moment for Japan. This way we can remove the 4 year wait and give teams something to aim for outside of World Cup years.
13 Go to commentsHi, Dave here. Happy to answer questions 🥰
13 Go to commentsDon’t think that headline is accurate. It’s great to see Aus doing better but I’m not sure they’ve shown much threat to the top of the table. They shouldn’t be inflating wins against the lousy Highlanders and Crusaders either.
3 Go to commentsSuch a shame Roigard and Aumua picked up long term injuries, probably the two form players in the comp. Also, pretty sure Clarke Dermody isn’t their coach. Got it half right though.
3 Go to commentsOh the Aussie media, they never learn. At least Andrew Kellaway is like “Woah, yeah it’s great, but settle down there guys” having endured years of the Aussie media, fans, and often their players getting ahead of themselves only to fall flat on their faces. Have the “We'll win the Bledisloe for sure this year!” headlines started yet? It’s simple to see what’s going on. The Aussie teams are settled, they didn't lose any of their major players overseas. The Crusaders and Chiefs lost key experienced All Blacks, and Razor in the Crusaders case, and clearly neither are anywhere near as strong as last year (The Canes and Blues would probably be 3rd & 4th if they were). The Highlanders are annually average, even more so post-Aaron Smith and a big squad clean out. The two teams at the top? The two nz sides with largely the same settled roster as last year, except Ardie Savea for the Canes. They’ve both got far better coaches now too. If the Aussies are going to win the title, this is the year the kiwi sides will be weakest, so they better take their chance.
3 Go to commentsThe World Cup has to be the gold standard, line in the sand. 113 teams compete for what is the opportunity to make the pool stages, and then the knockout games for the trophy. The concept is sound. This must have been the rationale when the World Cup was created, surely? But I’m all for Looking forward and finding new ways for the SH to dominate the NH into the future. The autumn series needs a change up. Let’s start by having the NH teams come south every odd year for the Autumn/Spring series games?
13 Go to commentsWhat’ll happen when the AI models of the future go back in time and try to destroy the AI models of the past standing in their way of certain victory?
45 Go to comments