World Rugby chief says Lionesses the ‘catalyst’ for English women’s rugby as ‘super-sized’ World Cup set to take sport by storm
World Rugby chief says Lionesses the 'catalyst' for English women’s rugby as 'super-sized' World Cup set to take sport by storm
Women’s World Cup can change the face of even the men’s game, says head of World Rugby.
The boss of World Rugby says the 10th Women’s World Cup, which kicks off in England on Friday, has the potential to change the face of even the men’s game.
Alan Gilpin also believes a triumph for the home nation, who start as hot favourites, would be as transformative for women’s rugby globally as the Lionesses’ Euro 25 win has been for female football in England.
“What’s wonderful, at a time when I think the men’s game is brilliant on the field, is that the women’s game is showing a different face of rugby that is engaging non-avid fans in a slightly different way,” says the governing body’s chief executive.
“Those casual supporters are going to watch some men’s rugby as a result of that. So we’re building the whole audience through the women’s game for sure.”
Daring to be different
Led by Ilona Maher, the sport’s most followed player, women’s rugby is daring to be different. On social media, the players are having a ball, their posts empowering women and girls by promoting body confidence and a sense of belonging, without taking themselves too seriously.
As Maher herself put it, when recently picking up a sporting Oscar, the ESPY award for Best Breakthrough Athlete: “Strong is beautiful, strong is powerful. It’s sexy, it’s whatever you want it to be. I hope more girls can feel how I feel.”
Gilpin says: “The women seem to be at a moment in time where they are able to be themselves, be really authentic, in a way maybe our men’s players don’t feel they can or have the platform to be.
“I think, and I’m optimistic about this, that will start to give permission to the men’s game to be more authentic.”
In other words, pave the way for the men to open up a bit, to reveal more of their personalities, show a bit of individualism, for so long frowned upon in the team environment.
It is significant that at a time when the men’s game is struggling with financial instability, player welfare concerns and, in many countries, a decline in playing numbers, women’s rugby is one of the fastest-growing sports globally.
This World Cup has shifted 375,000 tickets, three times more than the last one in New Zealand. More than 40,000 fans will be in Sunderland for England’s curtain raiser against the USA this Friday. The Twickenham final is sold out.
World Rugby has embedded content creators in each of the 16 competing teams to tell the players’ stories, and Brett Robinson, chair of the governing body, predicts: “These women are going to change a generation and inspire people around our great game.
“There is something quite special about the way that women celebrate our sport. It’s unique, their humility, the personality they bring is something that many of us men could learn from.”
An open platform
Gilpin cites an awards ceremony he attended last season as an example of the different vibe in men’s and women’s rugby. The female winners, he recalls, talked freely about themselves and their lives while their male counterparts thanked the coach and their families.
“I remember being at a press conference at the end of the Women’s World Cup in New Zealand three years ago when Ruby Tui was the local story,” he adds. “She’d used the platform to talk about domestic abuse and some really tough subjects.
“One of the local journalists asked, ‘Do you think now, as the women’s game professionalises, that this will stop because they will become like the men and they won’t talk about their own lives or real issues and it will all become like monologue one-word answers?’
“I said ‘no’ and for two reasons. Firstly, that’s not what the public or the media want and secondly, you ain’t going to stop them. You can’t put that genie back in the bottle now. They’re not going to stop talking about the things they’re passionate about.
“There are loads of brilliant women playing rugby who have a lot to say in a way men’s players haven’t taken that opportunity.
“The national team environment doesn’t often give them the chance to do that on a big stage, because (men’s) rugby tends to have a kind of ‘team-first, don’t put your head above the parapet, don’t be yourself’ (approach).
“We’ve got to give everyone permission to do that. That’s the conversation behind the scenes that we’re having with the national federations.”
Embracing personalities
Gilpin’s words follow hard on the heels of an interview Steve Borthwick gave to The Times last month in which he admitted “[men’s] rugby is in a battle for attention and support with so many competing sports” and urged it to build and embrace personalities.
The England head coach said: “We need superstars in the game. Unfortunately, in Britain, we’re very good at cutting people down. We talk about tall poppy syndrome. Well, what rugby needs is taller poppies.
“I happen to think you can be a superstar and a team player. I don’t think the two are mutually exclusive.”
Borthwick will doubtless watch with interest the impact the Women’s World Cup has on his sport over the coming five weeks.
“It feels like definitely we’re in the right market at the right time with women’s rugby,” says Gilpin. “It’s the right time to be in England with a super-sized Women’s World Cup.
“We’re going to see six weekends of brilliant rugby with the feel-good factor that we need. For me, if England are successful, it becomes that slight Lionesses moment that is a catalyst not just for English women’s rugby but more broadly.”
Chloe Kelly and Leah Williamson, heroines of England’s Euro25 triumph, have thrown their support behind the tournament, being among those to send messages of encouragement to their Red Roses rugby counterparts.
“That’s what I think is so special about women’s sport,” says Ellie Kildunne, England star and World Rugby 15s player of the year. “Women back women. It’s so powerful. Women are going to take over! I can’t wait to be part of it.”
