Simon Middleton column: How the Red Roses created abundant player depth

How do the other nations catch England? Or can the other nations catch England?

And if they can’t, or can’t even close the gap significantly, then what of the game as a competitive spectacle? Those are the questions currently being asked in women’s international rugby.

Whilst it may not be possible to answer those questions conclusively, I think it’s fair to say that unless the current crop of international teams can find a way to start producing more quality players and more quickly than they currently are, then the answer will be, no.

Having said that, I do think we are working towards most unions having a stronger player pool depth. More nations are placing a far greater focus on developing pathways that generate young talent. However, the speed of success of those pathways to increase the number of players that can compete in Test rugby depends heavily on the union’s commitment toward their women’s programme.

Over recent years, the rise of the women’s game globally in terms of profile and with it participation has been well documented. But for that growth to translate from participation to performance and give other nations the best chance of challenging England, then the international governing bodies need to back their women’s programme in the same way the Rugby Football Union have done with the Red Roses.

In contrast to the men’s development pathways, where clubs have a big impact on player development, the women’s game has yet to experience that. Invariably, most nations are still relying on their international programmes, at either pathway or senior level, to really develop their players, young and old.

Outside of PWR [JAECOO Premiership Women’s Rugby], the global club scene appears to be neither strong enough nor detailed enough to generate and develop an abundance of young talent. This is in no way a criticism; it’s simply a reality that the women’s game faces globally, and it’s a scenario that a decade or so ago was very true of the England talent pathway.

If we take England’s 15-year player pool journey, we could break it down into a few key facets and one critical moment. As with most international setups, the route to senior international honours was more or less through age-grade in schools and club.

Those good enough and often lucky enough to be spotted, would then enter the international pathway, generally culminating in U21 honours and from there the best of the best went into the seniors.

England also ran an additional programme called the National Academy that bridged the gap between age grade rugby and the seniors; this was for players who may not quite be ready to leap from U21s to seniors, or for players who may have entered the system later in life. It was a way to ensure late developers didn’t fall off the radar, or in some cases never even get onto it.

In essence, when faced with players that weren’t quite ready to take on the Test match scene, we would set up an England development group to train and play together to give them a push.

The one key moment came when the women’s club game was overhauled with the introduction of the Premier 15s – which we now know as PWR. From the outset, it was a programme that placed a huge focus on creating the highest quality programmes and the best platform for players to grow, develop and get ready for a higher level of competition.

Make no bones about it, the standards and detail of the programme then were nowhere near what they are now, but the intent and expectation were. Between the clubs and the RFU, players would be supported with coaching, medical support, conditioning, nutrition, etc., laying the foundations for what the Red Roses are today.

The process was simple; standards of player development were put at the forefront of the process and clubs that couldn’t match the expectations fell by the wayside and were replaced by clubs that could.

The fallout is what you see with the conveyor belt of talent that now is the PWR, and the international outcome is evidenced in England’s ability to win another Women’s Six Nations title earlier this year with what, in effect, was what many would consider a third-string pack.

If we want more athletes and players to have better skills, game-related athleticism and an understanding of their role in the game, we need to give them access to programmes that allow them to develop appropriately. The RFU and the PWR are examples of that, and it’s not surprising that we now see a host of non-English players coming to the league so they can tap into that platform.

The truth, it seems, is that some nations have been a little late to the party in realising how important the quality of the pathway is for identifying and developing more players. Fortunately, some coaches have understood its importance, like Sean Lynn, as he and the Wales staff have been identifying new players they believe can have a big input on their team.

He is increasing the number of young players who, in the future, can have an impact for Wales. It’s been a baptism of fire in the international game for Sean, but you have to admire his consistency of messaging since he arrived on the scene and the direction of travel seems clear for his Welsh team. The key to success going forward is in producing, developing and giving opportunities to young Welsh players.

The balance between developing home-grown talent in your own backyard and supporting them in their decisions to find a higher level of development elsewhere is incredibly difficult to manage. For example, play in the Celtic Challenge and support the development of your own homegrown competition or move into PWR, where you know you’ll be exposed to a much higher level of challenge week in, week out.

When it comes to ambitious and highly competitive players, you need a strong local league in place, or you’ll see your talent migrate to a sports scene that allows them to continue their growth. But that level of competition takes time to develop. As an international coach or governing body looking to get the best development for your players and success for your team, what do you do?

Those talented athletes need to be exposed to a high-quality level of gameplay, so they leave, which can be positive in the short term for the national team, but in terms of continuity and team cohesion, and especially long-term pathway consistency, it can turn out to be a problem.

Aoife Wafer is an example of a special kind of talent that had to join the PWR to keep being exposed to a more challenging competition. That’s a quick fix for Ireland, but it becomes a vicious cycle: you keep putting your best athletes in a foreign league, depriving your own club scene of the chance to prosper. It is a tough and complex conundrum for most nations, especially those looking to increase their player pool depth.

If you’re looking for short-term gain, then for Ireland, Scotland and Wales, the short-term plan would be to get a team into PWR. It would be the quickest way to get more quality exposure while keeping track of their players.

At the same time, the union will also need to invest in quality international programmes if they expect to be successful. Ireland have done this more recently and the results are starting to show. Whether it is coaching, conditioning, nutrition or psychological support, the union needs to ensure the best possible quality in all of these areas to help their athletes grow.

For the Southern Hemisphere, there are other challenges like players jumping from the sevens programme to XVs, which has its advantages but also can be an underlying problem. Does it help in the long term to transition players from one code to the other? If those athletes worked full-time in a sole programme, wouldn’t it be more beneficial for them and the national team?

Again, this often comes down to player pool size, where often the best player in the sevens are also the best players in the XVs. Sorry, but for me this is old school thinking! Player physiology alone dictates so! The women’s game has moved on too far for this to be a successful philosophy still.

England followed this model and were a jack of all trades for a lot of years. We made a conscious decision to split the programmes, which is what you now see.

England has developed a pipeline between the youth pathway, PWR, and the national team, giving them a monumental edge when it comes to success. That’s why others need to find their way as well, but in a way that will increase their competitiveness.

It doesn’t suffice to have a great youth player pathway. France are a stark example of that. Despite dominating England at age grade level for years, their senior team has enjoyed far less success and England’s has achieved much more. Why is that? What happens to those talents from their U18s and U21s sides?

France have been doing well, reached Women’s Rugby World Cup semi-finals and finishing in second place at the Women’s Six Nations, but they aren’t winning trophies. While the PWR is the feeding system for the Red Roses, can the same be said for France and Élite 1?

The middle ground between the age-group youth teams and the seniors is key to unlocking their full potential, and maybe that’s what’s missing for France and nations facing a similar problem and challenge.

Can the upcoming WXV Global Series be the platform that bridges those two worlds together for some nations? Of course, it all depends on what their immediate goals are, but if they are looking to the WXV Global Series as a valuable step towards working their way to excel in the World Cup, maybe it is the right time to test out new players.

Between now and the next Women’s Rugby World Cup, there’s a three-year gap, which can be crucial to absorb new faces into the squad and see progression in how the team plays.

The current landscape of the international women’s game demands at least two quality and able players per position. Now is the time to look at what those players are like, whether they are available, and where they are in terms of their development.

Do they need more caps? More minutes? More exposure? Those are the questions that need to be asked before and when the WXV Global Series kicks off. You need to give them the spotlight; if you keep them out, it will only hurt your chances of widening your player pool depth.

Again, Sean Lynn appears to be one of the coaches doing that, who has been very consistent in his messaging about what he is pursuing for Wales. Even if it doesn’t work out this September and October, it could pay dividends at Women’s Rugby World Cup 2029.

One thing is for sure, they will certainly have a better chance of arriving there in better shape if they continue to invest in their philosophy and their youth. For Sean, the WXV Global Series will be a measure of how far they have moved and progressed.

WXV Global Series and the WXV Global Series Challenger will be great measurements of how the best nations of the women’s game will tackle their way forward, mainly in building and increasing the number of players ready to excel at this stage.