WHERE TO START? Irish women’s rugby is a complicated matter. A world where controversy has seemingly always been just around the corner. A place where players and coaches are sometimes chewed up and spat out. A domain where optimism can be attacked and criticism can be dismissed outright.
The reality of Ireland’s position within women’s rugby is stark. They’re near the bottom rungs of the international game after losing all five of their Six Nations games this year. The Wooden Spoon, it’s known as. Ireland will be in the bottom tier of the new WXV competition in the autumn. They’re still ranked 10th in the world but it’s not the most competitive field.
The only way is up, surely, and a press briefing on women’s rugby at the IRFU’s training centre on the Sports Ireland Campus in Abbotstown yesterday highlighted some of the steps the union is taking to start climbing the ladder.
Deep down, the IRFU knows this is a mess of its own historical making but there are signs that they want to start getting things right in women’s rugby. CEO Kevin Potts, who took over in December 2021 after Ireland’s failure to qualify for the most recent World Cup, says he’s determined to see real progress in the women’s game.
The IRFU are putting their money where their mouth is, with an investment of €6.4 million in the women’s game on an annual basis from now on. With only just over 3,000 adult players in Ireland, that’s a hefty slice of their resources.
Since last year, Gillian McDarby has been in place as the union’s head of women’s performance and pathways. She was present at yesterday’s briefing along with Potts, IRFU committee member Fiona Steed, and Anne Marie-Hughes, the union’s head of equity, diversity & inclusivity, who said the IRFU has never had a formal internal complaint in those areas.
Also present was former Ireland scrum-half Larissa Muldoon, who has just been appointed as one of eight new full-time women’s national talent pathway coaches in each of the four provinces, with training hubs at Dublin City University, SETU Carlow, University of Galway, University of Limerick and Queen’s University.
Muldoon will work in Connacht, while the other appointments include Niamh Briggs in Munster. Their remit is to guide talented players from the age of 16 to 23, pushing them towards green jerseys.
Muldoon was also the head coach of the Ireland Women’s U18 side that recently delivered excellent performances at the Six Nations Festival, where their skillful rugby demonstrated the level of talent coming through the pathway.
Excitingly, McDarby revealed that the IRFU has been exploring the possibility of launching an Ireland women’s U20 team to compete in an U20 Six Nations, while they could even run a few U20 friendlies this summer. It would be a positive development if it comes to pass.
Of course, the Ireland women’s team come under the remit of IRFU performance director David Nucifora but he wasn’t at yesterday’s briefing.
“David is in Toulouse with our two 7s squads and hopefully one of them will make an Olympic Games this week,” explained Potts.
The women’s 7s team could qualify for the Olympics if this weekend in Toulouse goes well. After a grim Six Nations for the 15s team, it would be a boost for women’s rugby but there are still many people who believe Ireland doesn’t have enough talent to try to compete on both fronts.
“It’s quite challenging because we have a small depth of players,” admitted McDarby. “I suppose this year in particular was difficult because of the strategic objectives of both.
“This weekend the girls have a huge chance of qualifying for the Olympics and that would be an unbelievable achievement. That there itself would attract players into the system.
“If girls can see that if they can pull on a jersey and represent Ireland at the Olympics, we’re just going to have girls then actually aspire to be part of that.”
Back on the 15s front, Ireland are in need of a new head coach. Greg McWilliams left by mutual consent after the Six Nations and though the experienced John McKee is now in temporary charge, the IRFU are searching for a new permanent boss.
“We want to get the best candidate that’s out there,” said McDarby.
“It’ll be a challenging role given everything that’s gone on. If somebody wants a challenge, absolutely. It’ll be a high-profile role given that the game is growing and growing. We want somebody who can make a mark and make a difference.”
Potts confirmed that the IRFU has the budget to land a big fish, so it will be interesting to see where they go next. Perhaps this is the time to appoint a female head coach.
When asked about the state of play with the Women’s All-Ireland League, Steed launched into a 10-minute explanation of the protracted dialogue with clubs, with no consensus reached. In the end, it looks like there will be a nine-team format again next season.
That goes directly against what an independent review into women’s rugby recommended, while Steed’s monologue highlighted that some parts of the game remain very messy indeed.
Some of the WAIL clubs want to be recognised as a part of the ‘performance’ tier of women’s rugby, but the IRFU don’t see them in that light. The union is pushing on with the new Celtic Challenge competition, which will expand to include two Irish sides playing against Welsh and Scottish teams next season. Reports from this year’s competition were of a poor standard of rugby. There are still going to be inter-pros at the start of next season before a two-week break and then the WAIL.
So you can see why most of the Ireland internationals based over in England have opted to stay where they are, even if they’re mostly earning considerably less than the €15,000 to €30,000 they could be on by accepting the IRFU’s offers of the first-ever pro contracts for women’s rugby in Ireland.
The union says it will review the contracting situation after some players stated their preference for ‘hybrid’ deals that would allow them to continue working outside of rugby. It was always the plan that the contracts would morph and develop, according to the IRFU.
So there’s lots going on in women’s rugby but the IRFU insists that things are now moving in the right direction.
McDarby believes that Ireland could be competing for a Six Nations title within five years, while qualification for the 2025 World Cup is the big goal in 15s rugby now, but she stressed that patience is required as they build from this major low point.
“It just needs time,” said McDarby. “Nothing happens overnight. If we look at the men’s system, the provincial structure didn’t happen overnight. With the clubs and the AIL and the provinces, it took 20 years of battling for that to actually come into proper fruition.
“So all I’m asking here is just start to give us time and believe in what we’re trying to do.
“We’re trying to make a difference. We have learned from what’s gone on in the past. What we now need is for your support to drive this forward.”
