England’s final hurt may have a silver lining
Red Roses came up short but success of World Cup could usher in new era for women’s rugby,
After her side’s ego-bruising, bone-crushing defeat by New Zealand in the World Cup final, England captain Sarah Hunter, her eyes glistening with tears as she sunk into her media chair and faced reporters, indirectly spoke to the rugby powers that be.
“You can’t expect nations not to invest in their women’s teams when you’ve got a showcase of women’s rugby in a final like that in front of a crowd like that,” she said, her voice thick with emotion. “It’s come to the party, hasn’t it? People have finally woken up to what women’s rugby is all about.”
Hunter’s Red Roses had just fallen short in an absorbing contest at a packed Eden Park, watched by a record crowd of 42,579 on a psychedelic night that changed perceptions of women’s rugby for ever. It was a night that showcased the strength of the sport, a blockbuster meeting between two titans of the game. It ended with England’s 30-game winning streak being ripped up by a Black Ferns side whose fairy-tale World Cup triumph – their sixth in total – was written in the stars. It was the night when women’s rugby became… just rugby.
As Hunter and her colleagues wallowed in their devastation of losing a second consecutive World Cup final to their greatest nemesis, on the other side of the world, a 10-year-old girl called Frankie Harvey felt compelled to pen a heartfelt letter to the team.
“Please don’t forget all the good you have done for the sport we all love,” she wrote, urging the players to remember the tangible impact they would have on women and girl’s rugby in England. She made some not-so-outlandish predictions, indicating their efforts would inspire young girls to pick up a rugby ball, once-upon-a-time rugby mums to dust down their boots and grass-roots clubs to start their own women’s team.
That her eloquently penned letter went viral was indicative of how women’s rugby had erupted into the public consciousness.
The key question is whether the success of the World Cup can slingshot it into a space it has historically been shut out of – professionalism. Sally Horrox, World Rugby’s director of women’s rugby, is confident the success of the tournament has closed the gap to women’s football, which is already light years ahead in terms of professionalism.
“I would have said 10-15 years, looking at the hockey stick of growth, across other women’s sports,” said Horrox, when asked how far women’s rugby was behind its football counterpart.
“Having seen the progress, the appetite and the take-up in New Zealand, and the quality of the rugby, I think eight to 10 years.”
The launch of WXV, a new global tournament that will give nations more competitive games, in September next year, will help sustain some of the momentum generated by the World Cup. In the meantime, the hope is that unions will heed Hunter’s call.
For so long, her employer, the Rugby Football Union, has led the way by funding professional contracts for its women’s team. Bill Sweeney, the RFU’S chief executive, promised the result would not define the Red Roses, but spark a ripple effect across the women’s game. “All the other unions here have seen the effect a successful women’s game can have,” he said. “I think you’ll see other unions starting to invest.”
That sentiment was echoed by Simon Middleton, the Red Roses head coach, who cut a forlorn figure again, five years on from his side’s defeat by New Zealand in Belfast. The 2017 edition, where teams were put up in university accommodation and the idea of professionalism remained an alien concept, enjoyed a fraction of the hype and profile compared to this year’s showpiece.
“A World Cup has to take the game forward and if that doesn’t take the game forward, there is something wrong,” Middleton said. “I’m pretty sure it will.”
His side might not leave the legacy they would have wanted, but can take immense pride knowing they have played their part in a tournament which has irreversibly changed the landscape of women’s rugby.