THINGS WERE GOING poorly enough on the pitch already, only for the latest off-pitch controversy to hit Irish women’s rugby.
Yesterday’s report in the Telegraph alleging that Ireland Women face “an alarming amount of sexism” from the IRFU surged through the WhatsApp groups and social media pages of everyone with an interest in the sport and beyond. This was the kind of stuff that attracts equal amounts of genuine concern from people who care about women’s rugby and gleeful faux-anger from people who don’t even bother watching the games. It blew up.
Timing is everything and it just so happened that Ireland head coach Greg McWilliams was up for a press conference a few hours later after naming his team to face Italy in the Six Nations tomorrow.
McWilliams rejected the idea that the IRFU is a sexist organisation, as well as pointing out how much investment and energy has been put into the women’s game since the disastrous failure to qualify for the World Cup in 2021. He did also put his hands up and say certain things still need to be improved.
While he patiently answered every single question related to the Telegraph article and the IRFU’s treatment of its women’s team, it wasn’t difficult to sense his dismay at another bad news story landing when he already has plenty on his plate.
“I’d question the timing of the article,” said McWilliams after stressing that Ireland have to focus on what they can control.
“I’d question the fact that it’s coming out now two days before we play a game when it could have come out in December or it could have come out last summer. So I’m not quite sure why it was done the way it was done.”
This is the latest time an Ireland squad has had to ignore a big story blowing up when they’ve got an important game ahead. McWilliams admitted that it’s not easy.
“I want to be honest with you all, it is tough,” he said. “That’s part of our learning because they’re young athletes who are learning their ways in the public eye about what is acceptable and what is the manner of a professional athlete who is going to get to the point of being really competitive.
“So it’s something we’re aware of and the players are aware of and we’re working hard to make sure that, again, all you can concentrate on is what you do next. For these players, even looking back to when they were in Parma and failed to qualify for the World Cup, if ex-players are talking about that still and 2017 in Belfast, well there’s nothing we can do to stop them doing that.
“That’s external noise. We control our inner circle of influence and it’s not me being corny, but that’s where my heart is. I talk about this often – I will always be true to myself and I’ll say what I believe is right and I’ll say the truth
“We have a plan in place to play against Italy. This is a massive challenge for us both in terms of how we prep mentally, how we can get up for the game, and how we can not allow articles by people who are influencers in Irish rugby come out and talk about historical information. That’s up to them but we’re concentrating on developing rugby, we’re not concentrating on suppressing it.”
Ireland’s record under McWilliams is Played 9, Won 3.
He understands that momentum is a powerful thing in sport, particularly when it’s positive.
“You look at the likes of the Leinster men’s team or Ireland men’s team, they have positive momentum,” said McWilliams of the challenge of keeping his team focused on a bright future rather than spiraling negatively.
“Negative momentum is a tough one. It’s tough to turn that ship around and the best way to approach that is that every day you come into work, you’re preparing yourself to get better. That’s it.”
He said he loves the challenge of turning results around and spoke about his pride in the Irish coaching team of John McKee, Niamh Briggs, and Denis Fogarty.
“Players come in here and we treat them with the utmost respect,” said McWilliams.
“Without getting too corny, I’m kinda like their dad and they’re my daughters. You care for them and you want them to do well.
“You know, there’s going to be ups and downs. If you just keep chipping away and you stay consistent and stay consistent with your messaging, it’s going to turn around.
“We hope to see an improvement this Saturday and it’s something we’re really excited about.”
