Biggest influence
AVING SPENT 15 years playing international rugby, Danielle Waterman is ideally placed to assess the state of the women’s game. The 33-year-old called time on her England career earlier this year but has continued playing for Wasps in the Tyrrells Premier 15s. She has seen myriad changes in women’s rugby over the past decade and a half but feels the sport still has a way to go.
For a start, Waterman would like the women’s game to be viewed as an elite sport by governing bodies rather than pigeonholed as more of a development sport. She points to four-day turnarounds at Women’s World Cups, sevens events in remote locations and the fact England Women played before the U20s in the final round of last season’s Six Nations as examples of what needs to change.
“It’s about changing the mindset over the elite women’s game. Women’s rugby is put in a developmental block when it should be engaging people as a performance sport, albeit on a smaller scale to the men,” she says. “We need to see top-quality Internationals to sell the product at the highest level and that means investing more.
“Playing every four days at the
World Cup has a detrimental effect on performances, so you’re not getting the best product, and that comes down to finances. Playing (sevens) in the middle of nowhere to engage a new audience is also a detriment to the women’s game. Every tournament is an opportunity to engage new people but I think there could be better places to host them.
“The fact we played as a curtain-raiser to the U20s men is disrespectful to the women’s game. Whatever the reason, the women are perceived as a lower rank than the U20s if they’re a curtain-raiser. It has a significant effect on perception and how people see the product. You’ve
Hgot to engage grass roots and up-and-coming nations, but you have to see the top tier as high-performing teams, to see it as a high-end product.” Waterman’s views echo the results of the International Rugby Players survey involving the world’s top women’s players (sevens and 15s), 76% of whom felt their unions weren’t doing enough to promote the women’s game. A lot of union sponsorship deals see the women
“My dad, because of his understanding of the game and how he always helped me with feedback after matches. He always put things in
perspective” included alongside the men’s team(s) rather than having separate sponsors. Yet Waterman feels there is huge scope for both women’s teams and companies to benefit from their own deals.
Scotland Women have their own shirt sponsor for the first time in SP Energy Networks, while Tyrrells are the title sponsor of the top women’s domestic competition in England. In hockey, Investec’s involvement with the England and GB teams began years before the 2016 Olympics and they reaped the rewards in terms of the coverage that followed the gold medal triumph in Rio.
Harlequins are one club that appear to have combined the men’s and women’s