Reproduced with permission from HarpinOnRugby.net.
WHAT FOLLOWS WAS originally supposed to be a write-up of Ireland’s loss to France in the Women’s Rugby World Cup third place play-off. but instead I’ll harp on some more about how I feel the women’s game can move forward.
I have said countless times on social media how proud I am of the Irish squad and their progress throughout the tournament… and it’s important that we judge their achievements over recent weeks as a whole and not the last couple of results.
Besides…though the girls have said on many occasions since the semi-final that they feel they have let fans down, we all know they have done nothing of the sort.
Beat New Zealand and only fall short against the hosts and eventual champions? Given we could barely get our senior national team to the south of France a couple of years ago, I reckon they have done more than enough to show they belong at the top.
Plus, we must not lose sight of the fact that these games signalled the end of the road for key figures in the Irish set up – many have deservedly become household names over the past fortnight and certainly those who succeed them will have massive boots to fill.
But for the women attempting to fill those boots, I reckon the game needs to be brought forward sooner rather than later, and a good start could be the creation of a women’s version of the Heineken/Rugby Champions Cup, and if this were to be done in time for the 2015/16 season we’d need to start talking about it now.
Now, just so we’re clear; I still don’t think I’ve suddenly become an expert on the topic. I’m merely offering an opinion and I hope it shows that I want the sport to progress between now and the next Women’s World Cup, which is only three years away don’t forget, and could well be here in Ireland the way things are shaping up.
Philip Doyle, who’s second spell in charge of the squad has come to an end, reckons there should be November women’s internationals. I agree there should be top level women’s rugby in and around that time, but I think a provincial European competition would suit the game more. And it doesn’t have to mimic the men’s version in format, or at least not as it stands now.
The very first version of the Heineken Cup back in 1995/96 had just 12 teams, and I believe this could be an ideal way to introduce a women’s competition.
Just for starters I’d say have three teams each from England and France, two each from Ireland and Wales, and one each from Scotland and Italy. Three pools of four would produce four semi-finalists.
Such a tournament would provide Test coaches not only with a platform where their elite squad members can get top level competition ahead of the Six Nations, but they can give fringe players a run as well. And given the success of WRWC2014, I’d be reasonably confident the international component could attract interest in the form of TV coverage and sponsorship.
Yes, I know if Ireland have only 2 representatives then two provinces will miss out, but on the plus side our Inter-pro competition can have a bit of edge as well with qualification at stake. (What about test players from the two provinces who don’t make it? Maybe the qualifiers can draft in a few extra players to their squads. Or perhaps a junior competition like the Amlin. But something could be done, I’m sure.)
By the way…I know how important the Sevens game is to women’s rugby and no doubt that calendar would need to be altered to facilitate a new competition, but in my view, it would be worth it. Besides, this format would just take five weekends and thus not be too taxing on schedules.
Anyway… that’s my idea.
Much more qualified minds than mine will no doubt come up with something better, but whatever happens we need to see decisions to be made quickly while the hype is still strong.
If hay isn’t made now while the sun is shining on women’s rugby, it will be in danger of being plunged back into darkness as the men’s season returns in just a couple of weeks – in fact, over in France where #WRWC2014 was happening, the men’s Top14 had the cheek to kick-off over finals weekend.
Having tried to move heaven and earth on my schedule I was unable to make it to Dublin airport for 16.30 on Monday to give the girls their much-deserved welcome home. To say it’s an awkward time is a major understatement.
Maybe if the momentum generated by their heroics in France can be built upon, then by the time the next World Cup comes around, the women’s game will have enough prestige to ensure things like kick-off times and homecomings can be more schedule-friendly for a greater proportion of the fan base.
And we must all of course do everything we can to help make this happen. The legacies of the distinguished Test careers of Fiona Coghlan and Lynne Cantwell demand it.
TV viewership figures would not be great. Neither would attendences to matches. All comes down to sponsorship. Would be very lucky to get something that would even cover Travel expenses. Simple fact is not enough people care for womens rugby. Getting this tourney of the ground would be an achievement in itself.
Ah come on now – it was alright for a bit of a laugh the girls had a bit of fun etc created a few raised eyebrows in Independent Media -fake tans, sexual innuendo – we laughed we cried but time to be realistic and get the girls back to the Home economics classes.. the world no longer wants bra burners we need lovely girls as shown last night by the lovely roses.
Women’s rugby is like the league of Ireland…unpopular for a reason. Please stop trying to force people to watch just because we “should”!
Yeah, because tools like you run down anything that isn’t sexed up by Sky Sports and available at your nearest barstool.
I’m not trying to attack anyone and I don’t think I’m a “tool” I’m trying to be realistic. I watched the semi final of the world cup the other day, bandwagoning like everyone else which is fine, but i thought it was just aweful to watch. It was like a bad game of school boys under16 rugby. The commitment was incredible as you would expect and they were there on merit no doubt and fair play to them but now people are saying why doesn’t it get more exposure, why don’t they get more money etc but it’s a no brainer. There isn’t a big audience for it. The stadium was barely half full for the semi final of a world cup between England and Ireland for God’s sake. It’s just not that entertaining so people aren’t going to pay money to go and see it. Were you there?
Same point goes for the LOI. I used to love going to games when I was younger. Chanting and having the crack. When I was over that and just went to watch the soccer it started to become a chore so I stopped. The standard is horrible.
It’s my night of entertainment, I shouldn’t be forced to go or feel bad about not going, should I?
If the FAI or the IRB want these to be popular than work on the product, put money into it, make it more appealing, then I might think about spending my cash and time going to a LOI or women’s rugby game.
Ps. barstooler???
The ladies rugby team gets far more coverage than any other Irish ladies sports team be they indigenous or international . Ladies rugby in Ireland has tiny numbers of participants in comparison to many other ladies team sports including hockey, basketball, soccer, camogie and football. Yet both print and broadcast media give them saturation coverage in comparison to all other ladies team sports . A ladies Heineken Cup is a non runner . The money or the support to sustain it is not there .
The reason the stadium looked only half full was because it was a double header, after Ire v Eng we had hosts France v Canada. It was in fact a sellout but the France fans didn’t take their seats until later on.
I felt that the standard of rugby that day was high, and was certainly better than under16s. In fact the women’s game has less kicking and more passing than the mens, players don’t seek contact but run into space, all in all it features more running rugby than the men’s game, fewer scrums with endless resets, actually you could say that the boys could learn something from the girls in this regard.
The game here needs to be professional before getting involved in all of that.
I see no harm in giving it a go. If it works great, if not so what. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.
It’s a nice idea in a ideal world but these things cost money, that requires sponsors and TV viewership, it’s really hard to imagine it’s feasible considering that the Pro12 can barely keep its head above water…
There is a women’s European (football) Cup, run by UEFA. Gets almost no TV (or media) coverage, so that is not vital
This article is outstanding in its “right-on” approach but neglects to face a few harsh realities:
Sponsors would run a mile (just see how difficult the Pro12 finds it getting cash)
The player base is miniscule
The support (24/7) is not there right now
The woman’s game is a long way off having the structures to make such a move. Surely professionalism has to be the first step?
I can understand the enthusiasm for pushing the game forward but lets not get carried away on the back of the World Cup.
I don’t think a women’s Heineken Cup style competition would be feasible. In spite of this, the women’s game in this country needs to be reviewed and in my view, there are four key areas that need to be addressed:
International – The women’s senior team need autumn internationals (even one fixture would do) to guarantee them further international exposure on an annual basis. England and France often play the USA and Canada every autumn. Ireland deserve to be on these schedules.
Sevens – Sevens is great for developing and exposing more players to the international game and is a great way to bring players through the Talent Identification Programme. Keeping the current sevens team funded must be continued.
Interprovincial – The women’s Interprovincials need to be extended to a mini league format consisting of 6 games per province (home and away). The more game time of intense competition, the better. If the senior men’s provinces play each other home and away each year so should the senior women.
Youth – the IRFU need to launch a women’s U20 Interprovincial tournament. This is key for putting in place a pathway for the women’s game and can follow the current underage interprovincial structure of 3 games per province. With women, the difference between U18 to U20 wouldn’t be as big a gap within the male game so one youth team per province would work.
It’s great to see so many woman playing and lots of clubs are not fielding women’s teams but it’s a mile off a HC competition. Baby steps get the game grounded with the correct structures here first and them maybe look to a international competition.
Now fielding sorry bloody iPhone
Its been done. FIRA (now Rugby Europe) tried to organise a women’s European club tournament a few years ago, but only Spain and France entered. Perpignan won, IIRC.