Women's Lions: A roar of approval
Pulling on a Lions jersey has been one of the greatest honours in the men’s game since 1891. Sports marketing agency Two Circles were last week appointed to undertake a study on the feasibility of emulating this honour for a Women’s Lions Tour scheduled for 2026.
England Red Rose scrum-half Claudia MacDonald states that a Women’s Lions would represent ‘a huge opportunity for players to compete against each other for a shirt, and then play amongst and against the best’. It’s certainly a chance for the home nations to create a lasting legacy in the women’s game. MacDonald agrees, going on to say that a Women’s Lions Tour would ‘truly show how far we have come, from the women who first fought for club rugby and our national teams, our own World Cup, everything. Women’s rugby has written its own story, and a Women’s Lions would show respect for that story’.
If a 38 player Women’s Lions squad were selected this year, it would be a broadly English affair. This reflects limited resources available to players outside England rather than lack of talent. Domestic leagues of other home nations lag behind the Allianz Premier 15s, in which the majority of the teams boast a contingent of full-time athletes despite the limiting salary cap. Many Welsh players cross the border to play for Bristol, Gloucester and Exeter, exchanging quality game time for the fatigue of travel.
Wales’ recent announcement of twelve full time contracts is a solid start from a national perspective, but it will likely be several years before the benefits of fledgling professionalism appear on the pitch. Ireland currently have no centrally contracted XVs team members, whilst Scotland’s provision for contracted players is patchy at best, meaning athletes are working or studying alongside the demands of training. For a truly representative Lions, all home nations must be well on the way to full-time squads. This may be an area for the Lions to help with, either through direct funding or structural support.
Now we must consider the Lions opposition. Blindly following the men’s blueprint is not a recipe for compelling viewing. South Africa women currently languish in 13th place in world rankings with no substantial moves toward professionalism. A solution could be keeping the four-year cycle without fixed opposition – this would allow the Tour to grow organically and for the Women’s Lions to have the flexibility to choose the most competitive opposition.
The World Cup played in New Zealand later this year should indicate which nations may be up to the task of the inaugural Tour. The Black Ferns (ranked second in the world) suffered resounding defeat in their recent test series against the Red Roses culminating in a 56 – 15 loss at Franklins Gardens. It’s hard to imagine the fifth placed Wallaroos would fare much better, with captain Grace Hamilton suggesting ‘it may be tough down here to put a strong opposition out’. However, this may be a different story come 2026 – the Black Ferns have recently announced a full time paid squad, and it’s likely that the Wallaroos will follow suit.
Perhaps an interesting proposition is a combined Tour of Australia and New Zealand. This type of Tour would provide a bigger pool of high quality opposition from the top ends of both countries’ domestic leagues. A Southern Hemisphere Barbarians-style warm up match could also be a crowd pleaser. Hamilton notes that ‘a combined tour would be a great thing…I would hope that in the next four years Australia will support our women more to lift the standard’.
For future iterations, a combined USA/Canada tour would also make for interesting viewing – you need only look at USA captain Kate Zackary’s recent solo try and Alev Kelter’s performances in the league to know that the talent is there in the Eagles squad.
?? @kelteralev ??????? ??? ???? ?? ? ????????? ????? ?@SaracensWomen @USARugby #Premier15s pic.twitter.com/oqznPYzGDu
— Premiership Women's Rugby (@ThePWR) February 17, 2022
In terms of commercial practicality, opportunities for a Women’s Lions are considerable. Women’s sport achieved a record British audience of 33 million last year, with 600,000 viewers tuning in for the 2021 Six Nations clash between England and France. A documentary along the lines of Living With Lions could draw out the biggest personalities in the game, which would in turn drive sponsorship.
Research by the Women’s Sports Trust indicates that interest in female athletes is driving sport in general, led by player star-power. Giving players such as Shaunagh Brown and Meg Jones bigger platforms will in turn generate greater interest, following and therefore revenue.
Women’s rugby is experiencing exponential growth on and off the field. A well thought out Lions Tour could catapult the women’s game into the fully professional era and create an interminable legacy.
Comments on RugbyPass
We had during the week twilight footy, twilight cricket, tw golf plus there was the athletics club. Then the weekend was rugby 15s plus the net ball, really busy club scene back then but so much has changed and rugby has suffered. And it was all about changing lifestyles.
6 Go to commentsIn the 70s and 80s my club ran 5 Senior sides plus a Vets. Now it is 2 sides with an occasional 3rd team. Players have difficulty getitng to training now, not sure why and the commitment is not there. It seems to me more a problem of people applying themselves and not expecting to turn up and play whenever they want to.
6 Go to commentsROG’s contract is until 2027. The conversation about a successor to Galthie after RWC 2027 may be starting now. We can infer that Galthie’s reign stops then. He is throwing the Irish Coaching Job angle in because he is Irish. The next Irish coach MUST be Leo Cullen. As well as being the best coach available, coaching the vast majority of Irish Internationals week in week out, he has shown incredible skill at recruiting the best coaching staff for the job in hand. That was a failing in France. Cullen is a shrewd guy and if there is a need for foreign coaches underneath him he won’t hesitate. Rightly so. Ireland does need to start to bring Irish coaches through. Not just at the professional level but we need to train coaches to man new pathways for developing kids from schools/clubs up through the divisions.
7 Go to commentsNo Islam says it must rule where it stands Thus it is to be deleted from this planet Earth
18 Go to commentsThis team probably does not beat the ABs sadly Not sure if BPA will be available given his signing for Force but has to enter consideration. Very strong possibility of getting schooled by the AB props. Advantage AB. Rodda/Skelton would be a tasty locking combination - would love to see how they get on. Advantage Wallabies. Backrow a risk of getting out hustled and outmuscled by ABs. Will be interesting to see if the Blues feast on the Reds this weekend the way they did the Brumbies we are in big trouble at the breakdown. Great energy, running and defence but goalkicking/general kicking/passing quality in the halves bothers me enormously. SA may have won the World Cup for a lot of the tournament without a recognised goalkicker but Pollard in the final made a difference IMO. Injuries and retirements leave AB stocks a bit lighter but still stronger. 12 and 13 ABs shade it (Barret > Paisami, Ione = Ikitau, arguably) Interesting clash of styles on the wings - Corey Toole running around Caleb Clark and Caleb running over the top of Toole. Reece vs Koro probably the reverse. Pretty even IMO. 15s Kelleway = Love See advantage to ABs man for man, but we are not obviously getting slaughtered anywhere which makes a nice change. Think talent wise we are pretty even and if our cohesion and teamwork is better than the ABs then its just about doable.
11 Go to commentsCompletely agree. More friday night games would be a hit. RFU to make sure every club has a floodlit pitch. Club opens again Saturday to welcome touch / tag. Minis and youths on Sunday
6 Go to comments1.97m and 105Kg? Proportionately, probably skinnier than me at 1.82 and 82kilos. He won’t survive against the big guys at that weight.
55 Go to commentsThe value he brought to the crusaders as an assistant was equal to what he got out of being there. He reflected not only on the team culture but also the credit he attributed to the rugby community. Such experience shouldn’t be overlooked.
7 Go to commentsGood luck Aussie
11 Go to commentssmith at 9 / mounga 10 / laumape 12 / fainganuku 14
54 Go to commentsBar the injuries, it’s pretty much their top team …
2 Go to commentsDon’t disagree with much of this but it appears you forgot Rodda and Beale, who started at the Force on the weekend.
11 Go to commentsExcept for the injured Zach Gallagher this would be Saders best forward pack for the season. Blackadder needs to stay at 7, for all of Christies tackling he is not dominant and offers very little else. McNicholfullback is maybe a good option, Fihaki not really upto it, there was a reason Burke played there last year. Maybe Havilli to 2nd five McLeod to wing. Need a strong winger on 1 side to compliment Reece
1 Go to commentsTo me TJ is clearly the best 9 in the competition right now but he's also a proven player off the bench, there's few playmaking players who can come off the bench as calm and settled as he is, Beauden can, TJ can and I doubt any of the scrumhalves in contention can, if they want to experiment with new 9s I want him on the bench ready to step in if they crumble under the pressure. The Boks put their best front row on the bench, I'd like to see us take a similar approach, the Hurricanes have been doing similar things with players like Kirifi.
54 Go to commentsROG has better chance to win a WC if he starts training and make himself eligible as a player. He won’t make the Ireland squad but I reckon he may get close with Namibia (needs to improve his Afrikaans) or Portugal. Both sides had 1000:1 odds to win the RWC in 2023 which is an improvement on ROG’s odds of winning a RWC as a coach. Unlike Top 14 teams, national teams can’t go shopping and buy the best players - you work with the available talent pool and turn them into world beaters.
7 Go to commentsthat backline nope that backline is terrible why would you have sevu Reece when he’s not even top 5 wingers in the comp why have Blackadder when there’s better players no Scott barret isn’t an automatic the guy is more of a liability than anything why have him there when you have samipeni who’s far far better
54 Go to commentsAh, good to find you Nick. Agree with everything about Cale. So much to like about his game
55 Go to commentsNot too bad. Questions at 6, lock and HB for me. The ABs will be a lot stronger once Jordan and Roigard return. Also, work needs to be made to secure Frizzell back for next season and maybe also Mo’unga; they’re just wasting time playing in japan
54 Go to commentsOn the title, i wonder for many of those people it is a case something like a belief in working smarter, not harder?
1 Go to commentsForget Sotutu. One of those whose top level is Super Rugby. Id take a punt on Wallace Sititi Finau ahead of Glass body Blackadder.
54 Go to comments