Fleetwood eyes Prem XV player
VICKY FLEETWOOD is confident women’s rugby will be able to detach itself from the men’s game commercially in the coming years and grow financially to the point where more players will consider taking it up full-time.
The last decade has seen a significant increase in interest in women’s sport, but the leading clubs in England are a mixture of professionals and amateurs with only those who break into international rugby able to afford to give up their day-job.
“More than half the players at every club in the Allianz Premier 15s are either not paid or only get expenses so they are amateur rather than semiprofessional,” said the Saracens flanker Fleetwood, 31, who has won 77 England caps since making her Test debut in 2011.
“The women’s game is generating more attention, but going full-time is a major decision for a player and you have to weigh up a number of factors. Unless you are playing for England, it is not really an option.
“It used to be hard mixing full-time professionals with amateurs in clubs, but the work the girls who have outside jobs do is crazy, arranging their hours to do gym work and their conditioning is such that they could be fulltime. Some are full-time mums and the struggle can be finding enough time.
“We need to get people buying into our game and supporting us, and not just on the back of men’s rugby, and we could look at setting up an academy system. It means generating more income from television and sponsorship, but to convince the broadcasters you need to improve the skill level, something it is going to take more investment to achieve.
“Double-headers work well because people who are interested in men’s rugby but have not seen a women’s match provide a new audience. There is more running rugby in our game which is improving every year and becoming more competitive. The more who watch us means more income to help increase the number of full-time players.”
One of Europe’s leading clubs, Leicester, last week announced they were launching a women’s team next season. Former England international Vicky Macqueen has been appointed head of women’s rugby and the Tigers are looking to make three other appointments to support their women’s and girls’ programmes.
It has come too late for Fleetwood who grew up in Leicestershire but had to go to Lichfield to play rugby, relying on her parents to ferry her to training sessions twice a week and a match every Sunday.
“I grew up watching the Tigers but had to travel a long way to play,” said Fleetwood. “A problem then with fewer teams was that if you had busy parents, you could not play the sport you most wanted to. Now Leicester are starting a team along with Ealing and that will help the game grow.
“I just enjoyed playing rugby and I was fortunate to be able to play it in school where it was offered after the end of the day because the PE teachers were interested in it and more than 50 girls took it up. I was involved in a number of sports, including athletics and hockey, and when I was 17 I had a decision to make about which one to focus on. There was just something about rugby I really loved.”
Fleetwood has gone on to become one of England’s most successful players, appearing in two World Cup finals in 2014 and 2017, winning the first, and was part of the squad that won this year’s truncated Six Nations which was postponed from its original date because of Covid, their third in as many years.
“It was a weird time and had a number of weeks when we spent the first three days of the week with England and went back to our clubs on the Thursday. It was tough on the body and the mind because at meal times you sat alone on your own little table two metres away from the next player and then return to your room.
“There was no chance of bonding with teammates and it was hard. It was frustrating when the Six Nations was pushed back, but it meant that we played it in a window of our own and that made it more visible. I liked the fact there was a final this time (England beat France) but I do not know whether it is something that will
become more than a one-off.” Another disappointment for players this year was the postponement of the World Cup, which was due to be held in New Zealand in September and October. It will now be played in October and November next year in Auckland and Whangerei.
“It became all the more frustrating when the Lions tour to South Africa went ahead,” said Fleetwood, “as well as the Olympics. You can understand it because New Zealand have kept their Covid cases very low and do not want to invite teams from all over the world into their country and one uplift is that the tournament will now be played over six weeks and include a quarter-final.
“I have not forgotten the disappointment of losing the last final when we just did not perform and we have to make sure that we use the extra time to our advantage. I have really enjoyed pre-season, spending four weeks at Bath University with England before going back to Saracens for five weeks of training.
“It will be good to play in front of fans again without any restriction on numbers. When Saracens played Harlequins in the Premier 15s final, not many came to watch two London teams play in
Gloucester, although the biggest disappointment was that we did not play well at all having topped the table. What the coverage of the game showed is that the profile of women’s rugby continues to change.”
Fleetwood worked as a personal trainer before signing her first full-time contract five years ago and it is something she has kept doing.
“It means I have something to go into after I finish playing and I love seeing people improve,” she says. “I was writing programmes for rugby clubs during the lockdownsand taking zoom sessions, but for the moment I cannot wait to get playing again and have a lot to look forward to.”