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TikTok Women's Six Nations: Scrolling into 2022
Yesterday morning news arrived that the Women’s Six Nations tournament officially broke its sponsorship virginity aligning with Tiktok to become the “TikTok Women’s Six Nations”. Although the finer details are yet to be announced around the competitions first title sponsorship, as a #Rugbytoker myself, I thought this would be a good time to introduce the masses to the app, the creators behind it and the sheer potential it has to grow the women’s game.
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We *love* the sound of the #TikTokWomensSixNations 🙌🤩 pic.twitter.com/SfZHuG6jEe
— Guinness Women's Six Nations (@Womens6Nations) January 27, 2022
What is TikTok?
TikTok is a social media platform dedicated exclusively to short form video content. The app started out with a strong association to the younger generation but has since broadened its reach to a more age-diverse audience. Videos usually see people lip syncing popular sounds, which can be songs or lines taken from a film, to form entertaining videos.
Why could it be so important for growing the women’s game?
Ultimately, to reach new audiences you must meet them where they are. Rugby specific content on the app is growing, especially surrounding the women’s game. I myself, along with a range of other creators, make women’s rugby content that proves to be fairly popular with different age groups.
TikTok as a social media platform is unique in its ability to reach new audiences. Unlike Twitter or Instagram the platform pushes out content to a wide range of audiences through it’s ‘For You Page’, a seamless scroll of never-ending content that is addictive in nature.
The platform is quick to learn the users’ likes and dislikes, showing videos that reflect this. For example, within a few hours of me setting up an account the algorithm had already cracked I was a rugby fan.
Also, the content that will come out of this partnership should be pivotal to growing the game. Highlight reels are key to attracting new audiences and peaking interest in women’s rugby. You only have to look over to USA rugby sevens player Ilona Maher’s viral content in the lead up to the Olympics to see proof of this.
@ilonamaher All my respect to this player though #beastbeautybrains #rugby #rugger
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What do we know, or not know, about this partnership?
Right now, the parameters of this partnership are unclear. It will be the first time the tournament has had an official title partner, which is a good sign. Questions have been put to the Six Nations regarding prize money and funding for women teams, and as such we are still waiting for clarification on this. Also, it is unclear if money has been ring-fenced for the women’s game, as this partnership extends over to the men’s tournament, Under 20s and the Autumn Nations Series.
What is clear, however, is that a global social media platform has seen the potential in the women’s game, making a bold commitment to support it for the next four years.
TIKTOK 🤝 WOMEN’S RUGBY
The @Womens6Nations first title partner will be @TikTokSports 👀
Bold statement and commitment, as brands are seeing the potential of women’s #rugby 🏉
The reach of this partnership can not be understated 🤯
Full story on @RugbyPass tonight ✍️ pic.twitter.com/xNHYMibRZM
— Stella Mills (@stellamills__) January 27, 2022
It’s not just internationals who use this platform, Exeter Chiefs player Charlie Willett is a frequent flyer, and has recently used it to draw attention to the game, and the funny quirks behind it. She demonstrates that the relatability of the platform is also a big draw, as audience members get access to creators in ways not previously possible with features such live streams, interactive comments, and DM’s.
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Speaking exclusively to RugbyPass she said: “I always find with other social media platforms you are curating content to be perfect, whereas TikTok was the first platform I felt comfortable to share uncomfortable things like not getting picked for teams and being injured.”
@charlierugby_ TELLING COACH I’M READY TO PLAY…but I’m dating the physio 🤦🏼♀️ #CloseYourRings #rugbytok #rugby #womensrugby #rugbypass #rugbygirls
The platform is unique in the fact that content isn’t limited to short form cycles, which in basic terms means content can go viral at any stage and doesn’t have a shelf life like other platforms. It’s also been pivotal in encouraging young girls to take up the sport, with grassroots players such as @PropLife and @Rugbywithamy inspiring the next generation to pick up the egg-shaped ball.
Speaking to RugbyPass content creator PropLife said:
“I started my account to make people laugh and combat the loneliness in the first lockdown, and now I have over 15,000 followers. It’s also so nice to hear that my content has helped women and girls play rugby. My main aim now is to grow this game and build on the momentum that the sport is gathering.”
The power of TikTok isn’t a secret to the rugby world. In collaboration with PropLife I ran a series of webinars for grassroots rugby clubs teaching them how to use the platform to recruit and retain players. Since doing so there has been a rise in clubs who have explored the platform to raise their profile, and recruitment activities.
It’s almost ironic that both TikTok and women’s rugby are experiencing exponential periods of growth, it’s like they were made for each other. Whilst we are still waiting for more details to be revealed about this partnership, the decision to be a title sponsor isn’t one to be taken lightly. The deal signed will last for four years, and will hopefully see the women’s game gets the coverage it so rightly deserves.
And to think, not so long ago past Women’s Six Nations matches where difficult to come by on the TV, and now one of the world’s biggest content based platforms has publicly pledged its allegiance to the women’s game. For me, that in itself is a big win that certainly sets the bar pretty high for the rest of 2022, who knows what else is round the corner for this ever-growing game?
Comments on RugbyPass
After their 5/0 start, I had the Crusaders to finish Top 4 only…they lost the plot in Perth but will reload and back themselves vs 4th placed Rebels…
3 Go to commentsBoth nations missed a great opportunity to book a game that would have had a lot of interest from around the world. I understand these games can’t be organised in 5 minutes but they should have found a way to make it happen. I don’t think Wales are ducking anyone but it’s a bad look haha.
3 Go to commentsIt will be fascinating to see the effect that Jo Yapp has. If they can compete with Canada and give BFs a run for their money that will be progress
1 Go to commentsFollowing his dream and putting in the work. Go well young fella!
3 Go to commentsPerhaps filling Twickenham is one of Mitchell’s KPIs. I doubt whether both September matches will be at Twickenham on consecutive weekends. I would take the BF one to a large provincial stadium so as not to give them the advantage and experience of playing at Twickenham before a large crowd prior to the RWC.
2 Go to commentsvery unfortunate for Kitshoff, but big opportunity potentially for Nché to prove he is genuinely the best loosehead in the world, rather than just a specialist finisher. Presuming that if Kitshoff is out, it will also give Steenekamp a chance to come into the 23? Or are others likely to be ahead of him?
1 Go to commentsA long held question in popular culture asks if art imitates life or does the latter influence the former? Over this 6 nations I can ask the same question of the media influencing the thoughts of its audience or vice versa. Nobody wants to see cricket scores in rugby, as a spectacle it is not sustainable. With so many articles about England’s procession and lack of competition it feeds the epicaricacy of many looking for an opportunity to pounce. England are not the first team to dominate nor does it happen only in rugby, think Federer, Nadal, Red Bull or Mercedes, Manchester Utd, Australia in tests and World Cups. Instead of celebrating the achievements why find reasons to falsify it pointing towards larger playing pool, professional for a longer period or mitigate with the lack of growth in other nations. Can we not enjoy it while it is here and know that it won’t last for ever, others coveting what England have will soon take the crown, ask the aforementioned?
6 Go to commentsShame he won’t turn out for the Netherlands now they’re improving. U20s are Euro champs and in the U20 Trophy this year. The senior sides gets better every year too.
3 Go to commentsWill rugbypass tv be showing these games?
1 Go to commentsWell where do you start, the fact that England have a professional domestic league and Ireland’s is fully amatuer, that they have fully seperated professional squads at Fifteens and Sevens (7’s thinly disguised as GB), and Ireland have fully pro Sevens squad who loan some players back to the Semi-Professional Fifteens squad (moved from amateur for only a year or so) for a few games at 6N & RWC’s. The Women’s games is a shambles, and is at risk of killing itself by pushing for professionalism when the market isn’t really there to support it outside one or two countnries..
6 Go to commentsWayne Smith's input didn't have as much impact on the last final as Davison's red card for Thompson. England were 14 points up and flying when that happened.
6 Go to commentsBilly's been playing consistently well for 2 - 3 seasons now and deserves a look in at the top level. Ioane and ALB are still first choice but there needs to be injury cover and succession. His partnership with Jordie gives him first dibs you'd think. Go the Hurricanes.
3 Go to commentsIt’s not up to Wales to support Georgian Rugby. That’s up to International Rugby and Georgia. I sympathise with Georgia’s decent attempt to create this fixture. But for Wales the proposed match up is just a potential stick to beat them with and a potential big psychological blow that young Welsh team doesn’t need. (I’m Irish BTW.)
3 Go to commentsCale certainly looks great in space, but as you say, he has struggled in contact. At 23 years old, turning 24 this year, he should be close to full physical maturity and yet there exists a considerable gap in the power and physicality required for international rugby. Weight doesn’t automatically equate to power and physicality either. Can he go from a player who’s being physically dominated in Super rugby to physically dominating in international rugby in 1 or 2 years? That’s a big ask but he may end up being a late bloomer.
29 Go to commentsIf rugby wants to remain interesting in the AI era then it will need to work on changing the rules. AI will reduce the tactical advantage of smart game plans, will neutralize primary attacking weapons, and will move rugby from a being a game of inches to a game of millimetres. It will be about sheer athleticism and technique,about avoiding mistakes, and about referees. Many fans will find that boring. The answer is to add creative degrees of freedom to the game. The 50-22 is an example. But we can have fun inventing others, like the right to add more players for X minutes per game, or the equivalent of the 2-point conversion in American football, the ability to call a 12-player scrum, etc. Not saying these are great ideas, but making the point that the more of these alternatives you allow, the less AI will be able to lock down high-probability strategies. This is not because AI does not have the compute power, but because it has more choices and has less data, or less-specific data. That will take time and debate, but big, positive and immediate impact could be in the area of ref/TMO assistance. The technology is easily good enough today to detect forward passes, not-straight lineouts, offside at breakdown/scrum/lineout, obstruction, early/late tackles, and a lot of other things. WR should be ultra aggressive in doing this, as it will really help in an area in which the game is really struggling. In the long run there needs to be substantial creativity applied to the rules. Without that AI (along with all of the pro innovations) will turn rugby into a bash fest.
24 Go to commentsSouth Africa rarely play Ireland and France on these tours. Mostly, England, Scotland and Wales. I wonder why
2 Go to commentsIt was a let’s-see-what-you're-made-of type of a game. The Bulls do look good when the opposition allows them to, but Munster shut them down, and they could not find a way through. Jake should be very worried about their chances in the competition.
2 Go to commentsHats off to Fabian for a very impressive journey to date. Is it as ‘uniquely unlikely’ as Rugby Pass suggests, given Anton Segner’s journey at the Blues?
3 Go to commentsSad that this was not confirmed. When administrators talk about expanding the game they evidently don’t include pathways to the top tier of rugby for teams outside of the old boys club. Rugby deserves better, and certainly Georgia does.
3 Go to commentsLions might take him on if they move on Van Rooyen but I doubt he will want to go back, might consider it a step backwards for himself. Sharks would take him on but if Plumtree goes on to win the challenge cup they will keep him on. Also sharks showing some promising signs recently. Stormers and Bulls are stable and Springboks are already filled up. Quality coach though, interesting to see where he ends up
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