World Rugby sorry for ‘misogynistic’ coach guide

WORLD RUGBY has apologised for publishing “misogynistic” guidance on how to coach women and girls based on an 18-year-old academic review.

The global governing body last week removed guidance from its website that was intended to help coaches in the sport “understand how men and women are different.” The framework was based on a literature review from 2006 and listed outdated gender stereotypes across six main areas, from how men and women differ in intellectual function to how they react to stress.

According to the research used to develop the coaching resource listed on its website, men use a “flight or fight” coping strategy in stressful situations, while women “tend and befriend”. It also outlined survival strategies used by both sexes, stating that men resort to “self interest, hierarchy and power” while women use “relationships, empathy and connections.”

The guidance sparked a backlash after it was flagged on X, formerly Twitter, by Alice Soper, a New Zealand-based journalist, who called it the most “steaming pile of misogynistic b------t I have encountered in quite some time.”

World Rugby removed the guidance hours after Soper drew attention to it. A World Rugby spokesman told The Telegraph that the language used “does not reflect the international federation’s values and known commitment to gender equality”. They added: “We would like to apologise to all who may have been offended.”

The guidance has since been replaced with an ‘Coaching Women and Girls’ module intended to encourage coaching methods to help recruit and retain more women and girls in rugby.