Why rugby boot manufacturers must up their game to cater for women
Crewkerne player Cody Hyland recently did what most of us do ahead of a new season – go shopping for a new pair of rugby boots. When she questioned the lack of boots for women and girls, she was told she would have to purchase boys’ boots or look online as they didn’t sell them in-store. “If these actually aren’t the best boots for my female body to play in, why don’t I have access to the kit I need in the same way my male counterparts do?”
When searching Sports Direct’s online store and filtering by gender only two options are available which – you guessed it – are men’s or boys because males are the only ones who play rugby, right? The exact same issue is prevalent on Lovell Rugby. The Rugby Store was slightly better, offering an adult’s section, but still no sign of women’s or girl’s boots.
Rugby boots are mainly made and marketed for men by men. I’m in no way claiming these sporting outlets are sexist, but if the shoe fits… For grassroots and elite players, this is nothing new. In a RugbyPass interview earlier this year, England’s Poppy Cleall call out sports equipment providers for the lack of women’s rugby products and its subsequent lack of visibility of female rugby players.
The topic of rugby boots for women seems to have divided the rugby community. Thea Northcott, a member of The Girls Rugby Club XV, mentioned she didn’t have any issues with playing in her boots, which are branded as boys’ boots. Others suggested the lack of female boots was down to supply and demand, arguing that the demand for female boots was not high enough to justify a female-specific line.
Wanting to learn more about the science behind this, RugbyPass spoke to Ian Griffiths, a foot and lower limb specialist who is the director at Sports Podiatry Info, to find out more. Griffiths started off the conversation by explaining: “The expectation would usually be that for a given stature adult female feet are shorter and narrower and have higher arches than their male counterparts.”
All she was doing was pointing out #rugby boots in her local sports shop are not made or marketed to women.
Did she really deserve these vile comments in response?
How is this still happening in 2021?!
Some of these people have daughters? They have mums, sisters?! pic.twitter.com/yKOBwi9GlK
— Stella Mills (@stellamills__) August 31, 2021
Academic research on this supports Griffiths’ statement. As Wunderlich and Cavanagh (2001) wrote: “Female feet and legs are not simple scaled-down various of male feet but rather differ in a number of shape characteristics.” With this information to hand, questions must be raised as to why boots are not made and marketed specifically for women. If, as academic research has proven, we have different shaped feet, surely we need our kit to be made differently to support us?
Additionally, differences between male and female feet emerge early on, as research has shown differences between young boys’ and girls’ feet being visible in children as young as four years old. Therefore, the argument that junior boots can and should be unisex is questionable.
Speaking specifically on rugby boots available to female players, Griffiths continued: “My experience is that those marketed as ‘female’ are usually essentially just scaled-down versions of the male versions. I have not seen any dramatic differences in their design features or stud placement. “It certainly does not appear that the boot market is reflective of the playing population, nor taking into account that female feet aren’t just small versions of male feet.”
If you think this issue is restricted purely to grassroots players alone, you are mistaken. Elite level female rugby players don’t have boots made specifically for them, so they often suffer the exact same issues that grassroots women and girls do. Problems with poor fitting kit extend far beyond boots. Female players at all levels have problems with poor fitting shorts, shirts and even sports bras, but that is a topic that needs far more attention than this week’s column.
Crossing over to the football world, Ida Sports have realised the marketing potential and commercial viability behind female-specific footwear. Co-founder Laura Youngson commented: “Often people don’t realise there is a problem with unisex shoes, especially women. We are educated to believe that unisex shoes fit everyone, but they don’t. You need a shoe that is made for you because it improves performance and reduces the risk of injury.”
The brand has redesigned female football boots, ensuring studs are placed in unique positions to relieve the pressure on the soles of a player’s feet, the boots feature a narrower heel cup and wider toe box to combat pinching and avoid blisters. Wouldn’t it be great if we could have a rugby equivalent?
Women’s rugby is one of the fastest-growing sports on the planet. Therefore, the argument that there is no viable commercial audience for these boots is null and void. Sports retailers are missing out on a huge trick here. Imagine if we had access to rugby boots that fit us and supported our feet in specific ways.
Just imagine coming in from training, taking your boots off and not having to peel off multiple layers of socks because your boots are too big, or not having to apply a fresh set of blister plasters to your heels because the boots are that uncomfortable, they make you bleed.
It’s about time brands started taking their marketing more seriously and started listening to women’s rugby players because, ultimately, it’s a win-win for both sides. It is commercially attractive for the business and can be nothing but a positive for female rugby players.
'What I love about O2 is that they’ve actually been doing it for years… they came in and said: ‘We are doing this, we are going to pay the woman & the men equally’ @_JessHayden 👩💻 spoke to @poppy_g_c about actions speaking louder than wordshttps://t.co/A8XlE1FZQ4
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) January 25, 2021
Comments on RugbyPass
Why cant I watch Rugby games please?
1 Go to commentsBeautiful shot from Finau, end of story. Gutted for Shaun Stevenson though.
4 Go to commentsThe Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
4 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
4 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
3 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
30 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
4 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusaders , you can keep going.
3 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
30 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
30 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
30 Go to comments