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Agitation behind first World Cup revealed as England gear up for NZ

By PA
Victorious USA players celebrate with a pint of Guinness each after the Womens Rugby Union World Cup Semi-Final victory against New Zealand played at Cardiff Arms Park on April 12th, 1991 in Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom. (Photo by Howard Boylan/Allsport/Getty Images/Hulton Archive)

The first women’s Rugby World Cup, remembers Deborah Griffin, would not have happened without a healthy mix of agitation and inexperience.

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England’s Griffin was fundamental in organising that inaugural tournament in Wales, which was contested over a two-week period in April 1991.

This week, Griffin and fellow organisers and pioneers Sue Dorrington, Mary Forsyth and Alice Cooper were inducted into the World Rugby Hall of Fame for their contributions to the game.

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“I wanna take their heads off, but I’m proud of them” Ruby Tui and Kendra Cocksedge on the WC final | Rugby World Cup 2021

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“I wanna take their heads off, but I’m proud of them” Ruby Tui and Kendra Cocksedge on the WC final | Rugby World Cup 2021

“It was naivete of youth,” Griffin, who was press officer at the Women’s Rugby Football Union at the time, told the PA news agency.

“We really didn’t know what we couldn’t do and we really didn’t know what we shouldn’t be doing. You can’t say, ‘well, we’ve tried that and it won’t work’. We just thought it was a great idea, so we were going to make sure it happened.”

By January of that year the naivete had begun to wear off, replaced by cold reality for Griffin and her team, all players at Richmond in London. They could not find a sponsor and the International Rugby Board (IRB) refused to sanction the tournament.

“Great credit to all the countries,” Griffin said. “We wrote to them to say we’ve not been able to get any sponsorship and you’re going to have to pay for your accommodation. We were looking at cancelling it.

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“They all wrote back and said, ‘no, we’re still coming’ and damn,” she said, laughing at the memory, “we didn’t think that at all.”

Logistical headaches compounded the financial ones. In the age before email, Griffin’s fax machine became a fast companion. Printing programmes and team sheets, handling requests from a sometimes sceptical media, and a Russian team who arrived with vodka and caviar but no funds were amongst the myriad challenges.

Then, three days before the final, the hotel England were staying in realised they had made a double-booking. The team, after much persuasion, slept on sleeping bags on the conference room floor.

Dorrington played hooker for England in the title clash, which they lost 19-6 to the Americans. The following year they got their own back, beating USA 38–23 to lift the trophy in Scotland.

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The women’s hard-fought battle for legitimacy and dogged persistence had made inroads by 1998, when World Rugby predecessor the IRB officially sanctioned the tournament.

The cup itself, however, was lost for 15 years before it was finally discovered in a former administrator’s attic. This year, the winners of those two “unofficial” tournaments were engraved on the current trophy.

Griffin, Dorrington, Forsyth and Cooper had one descriptor frequently and lovingly levelled at them during the Hall of Fame induction: agitators.

On Saturday, the Red Roses will carry on their legacy in front of 40,000 ticket-holders who have come to watch England take on New Zealand in the World Cup final.

Which Red Roses or Black Ferns could be the successors to the pioneers of 1991? Who are the chief agitators for the next era of women’s rugby?

“I don’t think we know now,” said Griffin, who still serves on the World Rugby and RFU councils.

“What is really amazing is the number of people who played in that first World Cup who went on to be administrators in their unions and push things forward. I still keep hearing about people, and that’s fantastic.

“I don’t think we know right now. They probably don’t know themselves. At the moment they’re playing, they have to focus on being role models for a whole generation.

“But I have no doubt that amongst the people playing in this tournament there are quite a number of future disruptors.”

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Jon 2 hours ago
Jake White: Are modern rugby players actually better?

This is the problem with conservative mindsets and phycology, and homogenous sports, everybody wants to be the same, use the i-win template. Athlete wise everyone has to have muscles and work at the gym to make themselves more likely to hold on that one tackle. Do those players even wonder if they are now more likely to be tackled by that player as a result of there “work”? Really though, too many questions, Jake. Is it better Jake? Yes, because you still have that rugby of ole that you talk about. Is it at the highest International level anymore? No, but you go to your club or checkout your representative side and still engage with that ‘beautiful game’. Could you also have a bit of that at the top if coaches encouraged there team to play and incentivized players like Damian McKenzie and Ange Capuozzo? Of course we could. Sadly Rugby doesn’t, or didn’t, really know what direction to go when professionalism came. Things like the state of northern pitches didn’t help. Over the last two or three decades I feel like I’ve been fortunate to have all that Jake wants. There was International quality Super Rugby to adore, then the next level below I could watch club mates, pulling 9 to 5s, take on the countries best in representative rugby. Rugby played with flair and not too much riding on the consequences. It was beautiful. That largely still exists today, but with the world of rugby not quite getting things right, the picture is now being painted in NZ that that level of rugby is not required in the “pathway” to Super Rugby or All Black rugby. You might wonder if NZR is right and the pathway shouldn’t include the ‘amateur’, but let me tell you, even though the NPC might be made up of people still having to pull 9-5s, we know these people still have dreams to get out of that, and aren’t likely to give them. They will be lost. That will put a real strain on the concept of whether “visceral thrill, derring-do and joyful abandon” type rugby will remain under the professional level here in NZ. I think at some point that can be eroded as well. If only wanting the best athlete’s at the top level wasn’t enough to lose that, shutting off the next group, or level, or rugby players from easy access to express and showcase themselves certainly will. That all comes back around to the same question of professionalism in rugby and whether it got things right, and rugby is better now. Maybe the answer is turning into a “no”?

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j
john 5 hours ago
Will the Crusaders' decline spark a slow death for New Zealand rugby?

But here in Australia we were told Penney was another gun kiwi coach, for the Tahs…….and yet again it turned out the kiwi coach was completely useless. Another con job on Australian rugby. As was Robbie Deans, as was Dave Rennie. Both coaches dumped from NZ and promoted to Australia as our saviour. And the Tahs lap them up knowing they are second rate and knowing that under pressure when their short comings are exposed in Australia as well, that they will fall in below the largest most powerful province and choose second rate Tah players to save their jobs. As they do and exactly as Joe Schmidt will do. Gauranteed. Schmidt was dumped by NZ too. That’s why he went overseas. That why kiwi coaches take jobs in Australia, to try and prove they are not as bad as NZ thought they were. Then when they get found out they try and ingratiate themselves to NZ again by dragging Australian teams down with ridiculous selections and game plans. NZ rugby’s biggest problem is that it can’t yet transition from MCaw Cheatism. They just don’t know how to try and win on your merits. It is still always a contest to see how much cheating you can get away with. Without a cheating genius like McCaw, they are struggling. This I think is why my wise old mate in NZ thinks Robertson will struggle. The Crusaders are the nursery of McCaw Cheatism. Sean Fitzpatrick was probably the father of it. Robertson doesn’t know anything else but other countries have worked it out.

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A
Adrian 7 hours ago
Will the Crusaders' decline spark a slow death for New Zealand rugby?

Thanks Nick The loss of players to OS, injury and retirement is certainly not helping the Crusaders. Ditto the coach. IMO Penny is there to hold the fort and cop the flak until new players and a new coach come through,…and that's understood and accepted by Penny and the Crusaders hierarchy. I think though that what is happening with the Crusaders is an indicator of what is happening with the other NZ SRP teams…..and the other SRP teams for that matter. Not enough money. The money has come via the SR competition and it’s not there anymore. It's in France, Japan and England. Unless or until something is done to make SR more SELLABLE to the NZ/Australia Rugby market AND the world rugby market the $s to keep both the very best players and the next rung down won't be there. They will play away from NZ more and more. I think though that NZ will continue to produce the players and the coaches of sufficient strength for NZ to have the capacity to stay at the top. Whether they do stay at the top as an international team will depend upon whether the money flowing to SRP is somehow restored, or NZ teams play in the Japan comp, or NZ opts to pick from anywhere. As a follower of many sports I’d have to say that the organisation and promotion of Super Rugby has been for the last 20 years closest to the worst I’ve ever seen. This hasn't necessarily been caused by NZ, but it’s happened. Perhaps it can be fixed, perhaps not. The Crusaders are I think a symptom of this, not the cause

15 Go to comments
T
Trevor 9 hours ago
Will forgotten Wallabies fit the Joe Schmidt model?

Thanks Brett.. At last a positive article on the potential of Wallaby candidates, great to read. Schmidt’s record as an international rugby coach speaks for itself, I’m somewhat confident he will turn the Wallaby’s fortunes around …. on the field. It will be up to others to steady the ship off the paddock. But is there a flaw in my optimism? We have known all along that Australia has the players to be very competitive with their international rivals. We know that because everyone keeps telling us. So why the poor results? A question that requires a definitive answer before the turn around can occur. Joe Schmidt signed on for 2 years, time to encompass the Lions tour of 2025. By all accounts he puts family first and that’s fair enough, but I would wager that his 2 year contract will be extended if the next 18 months or so shows the statement “Australia has the players” proves to be correct. The new coach does not have a lot of time to meld together an outfit that will be competitive in the Rugby Championship - it will be interesting to see what happens. It will be interesting to see what happens with Giteau law, the new Wallaby coach has already verbalised that he would to prefer to select from those who play their rugby in Australia. His first test in charge is in July just over 3 months away .. not a long time. I for one wish him well .. heaven knows Australia needs some positive vibes.

21 Go to comments
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