The Boom of WOmen's Rugby

Kaitlin Dryburgh

We’re currently in the throws of rugby’s Six Nation tournament and it’s already been packing in quite a few controversies (especially for Scotland). The tournament and the sport are as popular as ever, especially coming off the bat of last year’s men’s world cup.

Yet even though we’re more than half-way through the tournament we’ll have the women’s tournament kicking off just after. This year both the men and women will share the same title sponsor of Guinness. Although the monetary value will most likely be different it certainly speaks positively that both will share the same name.

For a sport that has been notoriously male dominated the increase in women participation is coming down the tracks at quite a pace. World Rugby puts it that just over a quarter of all registered players are women, which makes it a 28% increase since 2017. With that has been an increased presence at the senior levels of decision making among the sport. There's also been some amazing milestones. Perhaps one of the most recent being the prestigious British and Irish Lions will have a women’s tour kicking off in New Zealand 2027. Always a fixture for rugby fans the team will consist of the best players from Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, and England.

Scottish Rugby reports participation growing three fold over the past decade, increasing from 2,680 players to 6,173. From grassroots to the top there has been an increase in numbers but also respect for the game and an acknowledgement of it’s place.

Crowds have been getting larger and TV coverage for major games is a given now. Yet, in many respects women’s rugby is still dragging up the rear compared to other sports. Even compared to other sports notoriously dominated by males, such as football, rugby definitely isn’t leading the pack.

But how do you get more girls participating? That’s the real question.

Well speaking to former rugby coach at Biggar Rugby Club and a player herself Cristina Ertze believes that more understanding and acknowledgment needs to be given to the physical side of the sport. Of course there is no pretending that rugby isn't a very physical game which always comes with a high risk of injury, but especially for women the risk is higher. That is not to say women don’t have just as tough mental endurance than men but women’s physical make-up remains different. Bone density is lower and there is a plethora of evidence that states concussions have worse effects on women than on men. Sometimes these facts can be hard to get around when enticing more girls to join in, but they also mean more work and planning needs to be carried out to try and prevent them from happening and deal better with their effects.

However, Cristina often finds is that by the time girls are split from the boys as they enter high school age it's too late. Some girls already don’t feel the most comfortable playing with their male counterparts, which since development between the two sexes is different means their approach to the game is different. This also makes it harder to entice more girls to play in high school. By this time the sexes have been split which for some would be a motive to start playing, in high school training ramps up and more contact is allowed. Which for those who have never played before is off putting.

However, an alternative scenario, one which is deployed at Biggar, a club that has had an abundance of success with its girls’ teams, is to start the process younger. Encourage participation as young as possible and at twelve years or younger split them. This is a tactic that Irish Rugby has been using for several years, and with much success.

Obviously we have the very top of the game and the grassroots but what’s in between? The competition, the tournaments that help to develop players all over Scotland. Well unfortunately the picture can be quite bleak for girls wanting to see how far they can go in the sport. The problem with team sports is you need other teams to play against. So for a club like Biggar which can boast several full girls and women teams, the case is not similar in other areas. Cancelled matches are a familiar sight every week as some clubs are unable to rustle up a full team. So even for those who are dedicated there's no guarantee that they’ll have a team to play against. And that’s how any player develops, being pushed and tested. It’s how the game develops, and unfortunately there is still too many mis-matches.

One of Scottish Rugby’s goals surrounding the women’s sport still remains the creation of sustainable pathways and networks to the top of the game. One of the avenues is exposure which is slowly but surely becoming established. Yet clubs and teams still stay on a shaky peg. The Celtic Challenge which features teams from Scotland, Ireland and Wales has recently been expanded so each country now puts forward two teams. However, domestic rugby expansion still remains relatively low, and there are still many challenges that those clubs face in order to get players on the pitch. Grassroots sport should never be seen as a farm for the professional side, however there should be viable paths for those wanting to go all the way to explore. But we need to bridge that gap from club rugby to International tournaments, which as it stands seems to be an issue.

Unlike the men, women on the cusp of reaching the very top levels have to be realistic. They can’t put all their eggs in one basket because as it stands rugby is still hard to make a living out of. Sponsorships are never a sure thing and even those in the premiership still need to make that extra effort to keep sponsors on side and paying up. There is no sick pay or consideration if you want to start a family, because after all there is no maternity leave.

Even the Scottish Rugby contracts don’t provide a real living for women rugby players and a stipulation to the contract means they have to play in the premiership, which will pay, so they don’t have to. A zero hour contract very much comes to mind. Scotland is by no means on par with other national bodies such as England Rugby who do pay their players, or even New Zealand.

And like with any sport the specialties and research surrounding women is lacking. Different nutrition and training strategies are one thing, but with the difference in concussions effects there still remains room for better practices and awareness to be introduced. Siobhan Cattigan is testament to that. The back-rower from Stirling had 19 caps for Scotland when she died aged only 26 in 2021, from a rugby related brain injury. Scottish Rugby have recently apologised for their role in trying to downplay the role of rugby in her death. Her death should not be in vain and the organisation needs to provide better medical attention, support and precautionary care in the future.

Yet even though there is room for improvement and learning, there is still a lot to feel glad for. The past couple years have provided many milestones for the very top of women’s rugby, some that will hopefully go on to inspire more to get involved.

Perhaps one of the more reassuring moves was that of 28 Scottish Rugby contracts being offered to women players in 2022. This is a sign that Scottish Rugby are starting to take the development of women’s rugby seriously (even though pay structures remain different to the men). Many called it an overdue move, which they could be right in saying, but it has helped to keep Scotland moving with many other international teams. Although the positive knock-on effect of giving Scotland’s international players more security takes time it seems to have already taken effect. The end of last year brought victory for the Scots in the WXV2 tournament in South Africa. Their success and consecutive wins in South Africa hadn’t been seen for several decades.

So it wasn’t a surprise that when those contracts ended the end of last year Scottish Rugby agreed to an increased 32 professional contracts. With this news hopes are it will bolster Scotland chances of being successful at the Six Nations.

Being able to play any sport is a privilege, and we can only hope that with more exposure women's rugby will encourage any girls out there who might fancy giving it a go to look in at their local club.

But to both teams playing in the Six Nations, COME ON SCOTLAND!