The strange middle ground women's rugby finds itself falling into
Women’s rugby is often cited as one of the fastest growing sports on the planet, but is it growing in the right direction?
I sat down with World Cup winner and ex-England International, Claire Purdy, to find out more about what has been and what we can look to expect in the future.
#timehop #2011 #Grandslam @CathSpence8 @nolli15 @sophhemming @EmilyScarratt @Hfisher2012 @MaggieAlphonsi @Georgiegulliver @sarah_hunter8 ?? pic.twitter.com/g9DK7XtWxn
— Claire Purdy (@Purdy_C) March 20, 2021
During Purdy’s time, rugby was largely considered a hobby; something that was done alongside a full-time career. Luckily for her, her employer understood what she needed and facilitated long term sabbaticals to ensure she could take extended periods of time to focus on the World Cup. Despite what happened on the pitch, Claire always knew she had a job to go back to.
“If something went wrong, like a big injury, I always knew I had a career to fall back on, and most of my teammates had the same, whereas now, the girls are starting so young that rugby is the main, and only thing in their life, so they don’t necessarily have that security”.
Thanks to developments in player pathways, and an increased focus on recruitment, players are starting out at a much younger age. At first glance, this seems like a positive development, players becoming involved at a younger age could result in more time spent growing skills and gaining experience. Thus, resulting in an endless realm of elite talent as players move through the system.
However, Purdy explained this might not be as positive as it seems: “Most players coming into the England set up now are fairly young, they have aspirations to be a professional rugby player and so channel everything they have into this, which is great, but I hope for them that they have considered a plan B.”
Many would assume that the natural step following a rugby career, albeit limited for women, would be to move into coach or commentary. This isn’t always an option.
“What happens in 10 years’ time when these players retire, and they are faced with starting a career outside of rugby. We have seen a few players move into commentary roles or coaching positions, but these opportunities are limited.”
What we are beginning to see in women’s rugby is this bizarre limbo. Female players are considered professional; however, they are not afforded the usual benefits which should come as part of the package with any full-time, professional career.
Some may suggest that this is no different to the men’s game, where their playing careers are short in nature, with many also retiring with nothing to go to. To that I would argue that male players can often afford to set aside a nest egg for their retirement, because of how much they are paid in comparison to their female counterparts. It is also important to bear in mind that the opportunities offered for commentary and media appearances are incomparable between male and female players.
There are too many examples to show how the game is stuck in this strange middle ground. From an outsider’s perspective, it seems as if it is growing and moving in the right direction. However, from within, the same issues which were rife at the beginning are still plainly evident.
Critics have suggested players are now able to reap sponsorship and branding deals as another revenue of income, seemingly this is something which has evolved since Purdy’s time.
Speaking on the sponsorship side of things she mentioned: “At that time, we were not showered with sponsorships, people just didn’t know who we were. As players we needed to leverage the England shirt to our advantage, but we just couldn’t due to conflicts of interest, it was really difficult.”
This seems to have changed, with some of the England girls now being able to build their personal brand by associating themselves with different companies. For example, last year Sarah Bern, Shaunagh Brown and Zoe Harrison accepted sponsorship contracts with Umbro to become the first set of ambassadors for the sport. This is great – but don’t be fooled, a branding deal doesn’t bring in nearly enough income to pay the bills.
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The amount of dedication it takes to be chosen for the England squad is huge, players must remain fully focused on their performance to ensure they are selected to represent the country.
Reminiscing on how much the shirt meant to her, Purdy shared a bittersweet memory: “I remember I turned up to Twickenham to train, a few days after losing at the 2010 World Cup, and the security guard just looked at me and said, “What are you doing here, didn’t you just lose”, I walked past, got on the treadmill and just remember crying my eyes out.”
Playing in an England shirt means the world to these women, but should it have to cost them their world too?
Some of my best memories training at HQ #twickenham @EnglandRugby would spend hours after work #funtimes pic.twitter.com/4OHEYMXC1U
— Claire Purdy (@Purdy_C) May 7, 2021
Looking ahead to the future of the Allianz Premier 15s, multiple clubs have now publicly come out to suggest they will be offering professional setups to young, budding rugby players. However, it’s important for the clubs to explain exactly what “professional” means. To me, if you are a professional you are considered an expert, therefore you should be rewarded accordingly. It is not yet clear specifically what will be offered to players at these clubs. Will they be on a salary? Will they have access to 5* training facilities and coaching staff? Will they have their expenses paid for? None of that is clear.
What is clear, however, is an obvious uncertainty surrounding the term “professional”. For a word that is constantly banded around in the sport, it comes with a massive amount of confusion.
Will we see any clarification over what the term, and its obvious consequences, mean? Who knows?
Comments on RugbyPass
Jordie is looking at 16 games maximum if Leinster reach both the URC and champions cup finals. Thats not guaranteed. Some of those home URC fixtures will be cakewalks as well for Leinster and there is not much doing during the 6 nations in Feb and March so he can probably get a decent rest then. He will have to really put in it for maybe 7 or 8 games max. It should be a good move for both.
13 Go to commentsThe game was a quarter final, not a semi final. Barrett will be here for 6 months, he is no one's replacement at 13. That mantle will most likely ultimately go to Jamie Osborne, though Garry Ringrose has at least 4 more years in him. The long term problem position (in the next 3 years) for Leinster is tighthead prop, though there are a couple of prospects at schools level.
21 Go to commentsSo much for all that hype surrounding the ‘revival’ of Aussie rugby. The Blues were without the likes of regular starters Perofeta, Sullivan, Christie etc… This was a capitulation of the highest order by Australia’s finest. Joe Schmidt definitely has his work cut out for him.
2 Go to commentsYes they can ignore Sotutu. Like Akira Ioane plays OK at Super level but gets lost in tests. Too many chances too many failures.
2 Go to commentsA wallaby front-row of Bell, Blake and Tupou…now that would be hefty
1 Go to comments“But with an exceptional pass accuracy rating “ Which apart from Roigard is not a feature of any of the other 9s in NZ. Kind of basic for a Black 9 dont.you. think? Yet we keep seeing FC and TJ being rated ahead of him? Weird if it’s seen as vital to get our backline beating in your face defences.
1 Go to commentsThanks BeeMc! Looks like many teams need extra time to settle from the quadrennial northern migration. I think generally the quality of the Rugby has held up. Fiji has been fantastic and fun to watch
13 Go to commentsLets compare apples with apples. Lyon sent weak team the week before, but nobody raised an eyebrow. Give the South African teams a few years to build their depth, then you will be moaning that the teams are too strong.
41 Go to commentsDid footballs agents also perform the scout role at some time? I’m surprised more high profile players haven’t taken up the occupation, great way to remain in the game and use all that experience without really requiring a lot of specific expertise?
1 Go to commentsSuper rugby is struggling but that has little to do with sabbaticals. 1. Too many teams from Aust and NZ - should be 3 and 4 respectively, add in 2 from Japan, 1 possibly 2 from Argentina. 2. Inconsistent and poor refereeing, admittedly not restricted to Super rugby. Only one team was reffed at the breakdown in Reds v H’Landers match. Scrum penalty awarded in Canes v Drua when No 8 had the ball in the open with little defence nearby - ideal opportunity to play advantage. Coming back to Reds match - same scrum situation but ref played advantage - Landers made 10 yards and were penalised at the breakdown when the ref should have returned to scrum penalty. 3. Marketing is weak and losing ground to AFL and NRL. Playing 2 days compared with 4. 4. Scheduling is unattractive to family attendance. Have any franchises heard of Sundays 2pm?
13 Go to commentsAbsolutely..all they need is a chance in yhe playoffs and I bet all the other teams will be nervous…THEY KNOW HOW TO WIN IM THE PLAYOFFS..
2 Go to commentsI really hope he comes back and helps out with some coaching.
1 Go to commentsI think we are all just hoping that the Olympic 7s doesn’t suffer the same sad fate as the last RWC with the officials ruining the spectacle.
1 Go to commentsPersonally, I’ve lost the will to even be bothered about the RFU, the structure, the participants. It’s all a sham. I now simply enjoy getting a group of friends together to go and watch a few games a year in different locations (including Europe, the championship, etc). I feel extremely sorry for the real fans of these clubs who are constantly ignored by the RFU and other administrators. I feel especially sorry for the fans of clubs in the Championship who have had considerable central funding stripped away and are then expected to just take whatever the RFU put to them. Its all a sham, especially if the failed clubs are allowed to return.
10 Go to commentsI’m guessing Carl Hayman would have preferred to have stayed in NZ with benefit of hindsight. Up north there is the expectation to play twice as many games with far less ‘player management’ protocols that Paul is now criticising. Less playing through concussions means longer, healthier, careers. Carter used as the eg here by Paul, his sabbatical allowed him to play until age 37. OK its not an exact science but there is far more expectations on players who sign for Top 14 or Engl Prem clubs to get value for the huge salaries. NZR get alot wrong but keeping their best players in NZ rugby is not one of them. SA clubs are virtually devoid of their top players now, no thanks. They cant threaten the big teams in the Champions Cup, the squads have little depth. Cant see Canes/Chiefs struggling. Super has been great this year, fantastic high skill matches. Drua a fantastic addition and Jaguares will add another quality team eventually. Aus teams performing strongly and no doubt will benefit with the incentive of a Lions tour and a home RWC. Let Jordie enjoy his time with Leinster, it will allow the opportunity for another player to emerge at Canes in his absence.
13 Go to commentsLove that man, his way to despise angry little men is so funny ! 😂
5 Go to comments“South African franchises would be powerhouses if we had all our overseas based players back in situ. We would have the same unbeatable aura the Toulouses, Leinsters or Saracens of this world have had over the last decade or so.” Proof that Jake white does not understand the economics of the game in SA. Players earning abroad are not going to simply come back and represent the bulls. But they might if they have a springbok contract.
25 Go to commentsA lot of fans just joined in for the fun of it! We all admire O'Gara and what he has done for La Rochelle
5 Go to commentsThe RFU will find a way to mess this up as usual. My bet is there will be no promotion into the the Premiership, only relegation into National League One. Hopefully they won’t parachute failed clubs into the league at the expense of clubs who have battled for promotion.
10 Go to commentsWell that’s the contracts for RG and Jordie bought and paid for. Now, what are the chances we can persuade Antoine to hop over with all the extra dosh we’ll have from living at the Aviva & Croke next season…??? 🤑🤑🤑
38 Go to comments