HARD HITTING VIEW

Scottish women’s rugby received an unprecedented boost of financial support this week, setting the foundation for future success.

The women’s team, who qualified for the Rugby World Cup in New Zealand later this year, have been given a huge

financial boost to enable them to train full-time in advance of the competition.

Coach Bryan Easson will have unprecedented access to his players for a full 11 weeks in the build-up to the competition

It will give the women’s game a huge shot in the arm and, despite finishing last in the Six Nations, they will have the best possible chance to fulfil their potential in the competition.

But that’s not all. In addition to the support for the women travelling to New Zealand, Scotland are going to create two semi-professional teams, with a minimum of 30 players being offered contracts.

The semi-professional teams will compete with teams from other nations, although the SRU declined to say which nations were going to join in.

Overall, the funding for women’s rugby is going to increase from £1.6 million to £4.1m over the next year – a massive increase that is long overdue.

The money will not all be spent on salaries and the semi-professional teams. It will also be invested in growing the women’s game at all levels, which is absolutely key.

It is no good simply putting money into the game at the international level – money has to be spent on attracting new players into women’s rugby at all levels to build a strong pipeline of talent across the country.

Scotland have been slow off the mark with this, relative to other countries.

England’s women went professional in 2019 and Wales followed suit in 2022 with a mixture of professional and semi-professional contracts being awarded to their players.

Along with this funding comes some fairly stretching targets for the women.

The SRU expect them to have a top-four finish in the Six Nations by 2024 and a top-eight finish in the Rugby World Cup in 2025 but there is also a target to increase followership – attendances at games should be at least 7,000 by 2026.

The SRU also hope to grow participation to just under 8,000 women players.

The targets are stretching, not least because other countries will also be investing in their own women’s game, but, given that Scotland started later, there is scope for significant growth.

The approach has to cascade down into the clubs, however, and, no matter how inclusive people feel the game to be, there are still many whose chauvinistic attitudes need to change to really ensure that the sport is truly open and equal for all.

This investment, however, is a fantastic first step and truly signals intent from the SRU.

‘ This investment truly signals intent from the SRU