I fear fewer women will take up rugby post-pandemic
Last week, I virtually attended The Sunday Times Sportswomen of the Year Awards, an annual celebration of the best women across all sport. It was a good night for rugby union, with Barnes RFC player Zainab Alema winning the Vitality Grassroots Player of the Year award.
Alema, who is affectionately known as ‘Bulldozer’ by her teammates (and called it in spite by opposition) is also a neo-natal nurse, mum of three children under four, and charity worker. I am yet to confirm if she actually sleeps at all, but I am thoroughly impressed by her. I left the virtual awards ceremony with a buzz; women’s sport has come so far in the past five years, and to have a women’s rugby player win an award was the cherry on top.
Congratulations to @AlemaZainab who was named Grassroots Sportswoman of the Year at last night's @thesundaytimes #SWOTY Awards ??
Her story ? https://t.co/V1KZyoTy5B pic.twitter.com/tOM4F6nLoq
— England Rugby (@EnglandRugby) November 26, 2020
But as the week went on, I began to worry that the coronavirus pandemic has caused irreversible damage to this progress. Women’s sport has failed to resurrect with the same intensity that it had before the pandemic. For months, after men’s sport came back, there was little (if any) women’s sport to watch on television. For women’s rugby, the Allianz Premier 15s is back, but fans can’t watch it on television. Fans of the league are left watching via Facebook, the dodgy links I mentioned last week, or just clips of sensational tries shared on social media.
In my column last week, I said how brilliant it was to have international women’s rugby on BBC Two, and how accessible it has become to watch. I’ve argued for better coverage of both men’s and women’s rugby because in the long term, rugby desperately needs more fans and players. But recent research from Sport England has left me concerned that despite the progress women’s rugby has made, and despite the better coverage, the women’s game will fall behind.
Sport England found that the ‘exercise gap’ between men and women expanded during the height of the pandemic to ten percent; ten percent more men were exercising than women. In fact, there are 313,600 fewer women than men who are regularly active in England. According to the same research, this exercise gap is due to women taking on more household responsibilities, as well as childcare and home-schooling, than men during the pandemic. There will be men shaking their heads at this point I’m sure, and this is not to say men do not have a role in household chores and childcare, but this is the anecdotal evidence provided to Sport England.
At the same time as women are becoming less active than men, there is also the worry that rugby, like most sports, is at great risk of losing a number of our grassroots players after a prolonged time away from the sport.
Grassroots rugby is, like most things, allowed in various levels depending on where you live and train, but the rules are difficult to navigate. In Scotland, all levels of lockdown allow physically distanced training, but unrestricted and full contact training is not allowed, nor are friendly matches. In England, there are six stages on the RFU’s ‘return to rugby road map’ for the community game. At the moment, England is in stage one (or ‘A’ as the RFU calls it) which allows individual training with one other person, maintaining physical distance and no equipment sharing. In Wales, touch rugby matches between local clubs have just been sanctioned by the WRU, with some restrictions to training, including no contact or huddles. In Northern Ireland, all rugby below the elite level is suspended, and there is a five-stage return to rugby in Ireland similar to the British nations.
For someone new to the game, the idea of scrummaging or tackling – where social distancing is impossible – would be more terrifying than usual, even if no grassroots coach would seriously suggest this sort of training at the moment. For many, joining a new sport is just seen as an unnecessary risk.
Take these concerns about rugby on top of the research suggesting that women are less likely to exercise, and you’re left with a worrying image for women’s rugby at the grassroots level. There are many ways that clubs can help women come back to rugby and to recruit new female players. In my opinion, the best thing that clubs can do is make it entirely clear what training involves, including what the safety protocols are. The rules are confusing to navigate, and people in your area might not be sure if they are allowed to join in or not. If they are nervous, invite them to come and watch a session before they take part.
Clubs can do more to help with childcare for mums and dads too. I’ve seen some grassroots women’s teams have a childcare rota, where mums take it in turns to look after all children during a training session or can nominate a partner to come and help. One club told me they ‘employ’ the children as coaches, touch judges and referees to help out during training sessions. This is all so easy to do and can really help to make mums feel welcome at your rugby club, as well as make the little ones feel involved.
One thing that I love about my club, Epping Upper Clapton RFC, is that I play with women whose husbands and boyfriends play for the men’s teams, and their children are involved in the junior section. To involve women in rugby, clubs need to make sure their club is as inclusive and accessible for women as possible.
We know that interest in the elite women’s game is growing. Rugby is not going to be the sport for all female fans, like it isn’t the sport for all men who enjoy watching rugby, but there are many who may just too be nervous to give it a go at the moment. If that’s you, please get in touch with your local rugby club. I’m yet to find a women’s team who turn down new players, we all desperately want more to join our game. You don’t need boots, a gumshield, or anything really. You can just turn up in any sportswear and trainers and give it a go. You might hate it, but you might just love it.
Comments on RugbyPass
I do not really get why put Ollivon at 6 when he’s a 7, while Cros was the best Frenchman of the tournament, playing at…6. His only game replacing Aldritt at 8 doesn’t change much in terms of his impact. Lamaro was also outstanding in that brilliant Italian side, probably better than Reffell. So putting 2 Welsh players from the wooden spoon holders, and none of the 4th nation (Scotland) is also strange. Is it about showing that in this harsh transition Wales is, there were some standouts…?
6 Go to commentsThe events at this year’s six nations should undermine many of the arguments made against promotion and relegation between the six nations and the REC. If Italy had been allowed to yo-yo between divisions it conceivably could have really hurt their development, but if Italy, Wales, and Scotland are all at risk of relegation, with none of them being relegated more often than once every 3 or 4 years, you’d have to back all of them to muddle on through it, especially when you factor in the likelihood they’ll still be guaranteed world league matches against tier 1 opponents. Another way of looking at italys resurgence would be to say that the development model of adding an extra team to the six nations has worked, and now must be done again. Georgia could join to make it a 7 team round robin, and if and when Georgia demonstrate an ability to consistently win games, Portugal can also be added to make it an 8 team 2 conference competition. Frankly at this point I think it falls to world rugby to demand that the 6N act in the interests of the game. If the 6N won’t commit to expansion then the 6N teams should be handicapped in world cup draws (i.e. world cup seedings would not be based on their ranking points, but on their ranking points minus a 5 point penalty).
4 Go to commentsSteve Borthwick deserves credit for releasing the shackles on his England side and letting them play in a manner that somewhat resembles the top sides in the Gallagher Premiership. Will they revert to type in New Zealand in July.?
27 Go to commentsJames Lowe wouldn't get in any other 6N team. He's a great example of Farrell’s brilliance, and the Irish system. He is slow. His footwork is poor. But he fits perfectly in that Irish system, and has a superb impact. But put him in another team, and he'll look bang average.
6 Go to commentsCrusaders reached their heights through recruitment of North Island players, often leaving those NI teams bereft of key players. Example: Scott Barrett and Sam Whitelock robbed the Canes of their lineout and AB locks. For years the Canes have struggled at lock. This rabid recruitment was iniated by rule changes by a Crusader dominated NZR Head Office. Now this aggressive recruitment has back-fired, going after young inside back Hamilton Boys stars. They now have 4 Chiefs region 10s and not one with the requisite experience at Super level. Problems of their own making!
2 Go to commentsOver rated for a long time…exposed at scrum time too.
3 Go to comments“Firing me” should have been Gatland’s answer.
2 Go to commentsFinn Russell logic: “World” = 4 countries. Ireland may be at or near the top. FR’s bigger concern should be he and his fellow Scots (incl. the Bloemfontein ones) sliding back down to below top 10
42 Go to commentsMind games have begun. Ireland learned their lesson after saying they could beat England with 13 players or whatever. Still, if they win at Loftus, that would be impressive - final frontier etc.
58 Go to comments$950k for a Prop that isn’t fit enough to play 10 mins of rugby? Surely there is someone better to replace Big Mike with
3 Go to commentsFour Kiwis in that backline. A solid statement on the lack of invention, risk-taking and joy in the NH game; game of attrition and head- banging tedium. Longterm medical problems aplenty in the future!
6 Go to commentsGood article, I learnt quite a lot. A big sliding door moment was in the mid 00s when they rejected Steve Anderson's long term transformation and he wrote Ireland's strategy instead.
2 Go to commentsHi Dr Nick! I'm worried that I've started to enjoy watching England and have actually wanted them to win their last two games. What would you prescribe? On a more serious note, I've noticed that the standard of play in March is often better than early February. Do you think this is because of the weather or because the players have been together for longer?
27 Go to commentsMy question in all this brett is who is going to wear the consequences of these actions? Surely just getting the sack isn’t sufficient? A teenager working the till at woolies would probably get taken to court if they took $20 out of the till. You mean to tell me that someone can spend $2.6 million and get away with it? Where was it spent? What companies/people were the beneficiaries etc? How is it just being talked about as an ‘oopsie’ and we all just move on and not a matter of the court for gross negligence, fraud, take your pick…
20 Go to commentslove Manu too but England have relied on him coming back from injury for far too long and not sorted the position with someone else long term . It will be a blessing he has gone . Huge shame he was so injury prone . God speed Manu .
3 Go to commentsI agree with Ben Smith about Brett Cameron. The No. 6 position has to be a monster and a genuine lineout option, like Ollivon, Lawes (now Chessum), Du Toit, etc. The only player who fits that bill right now is Scott Barrett. A fit and fizzing Tuipolotu together with one of the young towers, Sam Darry or Josh Lord, would give Razor the freedom to play Barret at 6.
16 Go to commentsOutstanding article, Graham. Agree with all of it. And enjoy the style of writing too (particularly Grand Slap!).
3 Go to commentsI wouldn't pay a cent for that loafer. He just stands around, waiting for play to come his way. He won't make the Wallabies.
3 Go to commentsGood bit of te reo maori Nic. Or is that Niko or Nikora? On the theme of trees the Oaks v Totara. Game plan would be key. I have one but it would cost you.
27 Go to comments> Shaun Edwards’ You should not have to score 30 points to win a game, as exciting as it is. This statement was surprising to me. It is nonsensical .I guess it is a defence coach speaking. But head coach, defence and attacking coaches all work together. They are inseparable. You score more than the opposition to win. It only needs to be one score. You score whatever the game demands, whatever the opposition demand. You defend whatever it takes. The attack coach needs to be able to clock up 30pts if need be.
27 Go to comments