WE’VE BEEN HERE before. Lindsay Peat has been here before. Just four weeks ago, in fact. Nothing has changed, and nothing will unless those in power listen to people — to players — like Lindsay Peat.
Actually, something has changed. Five days after the prop made a passionate plea for the IRFU to seriously overhaul the women’s rugby structures in this country, Ireland slumped to a heavy defeat to Wales in their final Six Nations game. Their eighth defeat in nine Test matches. It meant a fifth-place finish, and worst in the championship for 13 years. A low ebb.
The wounds from the campaign have healed with time, but the scars remain. So many deficiencies were ruthlessly exposed, so many costly mistakes and lapses in concentration. The same errors, the same frustration. The same results.
But Peat’s point remains the same. This summer, the top nations in the women’s game will play Test matches, yet Ireland will not play again until November at the earliest. No time together, no opportunity to work things out, to find solutions.
“There’s a huge amount that needs to be done,” Peat begins. “Because now France, England, Canada, New Zealand and the USA are playing all those games during the summer and what are we doing? What are we doing?”
Nothing. Zilch.
“It’s invaluable to play rugby at that level. That puts your skills under pressure, that puts your game management under pressure. That’s invaluable. I can’t stress that enough. I’m not pointing fingers, I’m just stating the facts.
If we’re serious about that [bridging the gap] then people need t…It’s actions, I’m tired of the talk now at this stage. I need actions because I wanted to be the best professional rugby player. Not working on an amateur basis, I need to be a professional athlete across everything. The endeavour isn’t questioned but how do you become that elite player with some of the minimal tools that we have?
Still, Ireland have shown a frightening failure to master the basics. An inability to retain the ball, a lack of creativity and ingenuity in attack, a glaring defect in the defensive system, or simply in the way the players tackle. The issues are complex and run deep, but it’s not for the want of trying.
Peat explains: “We never shied away from taking responsibility. It’s very harsh learnings because for a lot of them [younger players], it was their first Six Nations and you don’t know the level of international rugby until you’re there.
“It’s tough but the talk in the camp, it actually has built that camaraderie off it and nearly stuck together. You tighten the circle that bit more. It’s just echoings of how we can be better. Sene [Naoupu] has been in touch about trying to run skill sessions between ourselves during the summer.
Obviously, next year’s Six Nations, we’ve September 2020 will be a huge year for qualification for the World Cup in New Zealand 2021. There’s no World Cup without Ireland, I know I’m biased, but let’s call a spade a spade. So there are big issues for us. Players will do whatever it takes but we need a big, big sponsor to come in and roll out behind us.
“There are people there with goals and visions but we need the stepping stones in action to get it all together. For now, we have the plans but as I said we don’t want words anymore, we want actions behind these goals. That’s what I want to see.”
Whether change happens before Peat moves on remains to be seen. At 38, the former Dublin footballer worked incredibly hard to rehab a serious neck injury and get back for the final rounds of the championship. But she now faces a decision — is it time to go?
Ali Miller has already signalled her retirement after soldiering for 11 years, the winger delivering some iconic moments for Irish women’s rugby — Irish rugby, full stop — down through the years. Adam Griggs’ squad has already lost so much experience. They can barely afford to lose another senior player, but Peat must decide whether she can continue to sacrifice what she does for the cause.
“At the minute, I haven’t fully made a decision in that sense,” she insists. “Regardless of whether I go on to play or not, this is a bigger issue that I stand behind, regardless.
“Because I want Ireland on the world stage. Whether I’m part of that or not, I want us to be a professional outfit. I want people to be talking about us for the right reasons. So, my situation is very difficult because, in that sense, I’m taking time away from my family, my wife and my son. It puts an awful lot of pressure on our family. I don’t see my Mam, my Dad, my sisters. You know, they could have changed their hair but I don’t know because I haven’t seen them.
So, from that point, it puts an awful lot of pressure on me. It does for other girls. That’s just my situation and as I said, you can’t be the best you want to be without the tools.
What is your gut telling you, though?
“I’ve briefly talked to Claire [her wife] and we’ll look at that. She’s been great and she said ‘it’s your choice if you still have stuff to give’ and obviously then, that has to roll in with Adam [Griggs] and whether he wants me involved.
“Whether I’m good for the team, whether I’m up to the standard. I would hate to keep flogging a dead horse. If I’m up to the standard that makes me an essential part of driving this team forward and being able to perform. I just don’t want to be a part of that. I want to perform, I want to be recognised as the top players as part of the top team.
That’s where it’s about driving individual standards which benefits the collective. So, I suppose, it’s a lot of people to talk to and for now, I just want to get back with my club [Railway Union], we have a semi-final coming up.
Whether Peat is in the green jersey or not come September 2020, Ireland face into a hugely significant World Cup qualifying tournament after their dismal campaign on home soil in 2017 meant they slipped outside the automatic qualification berths.
Last week, World Rugby announced Ireland will face Italy, Scotland, and the winner of the 2020 Rugby Europe’s women’s championship, with only one of these nations set to take up their place at the finals in New Zealand. The importance of Ireland qualifying for that tournament is not lost on Peat.
“What’s the point in hosting a World Cup if you’re not going to drive from that?” she asks.
“Would I have put all this work in for basketball or Dublin GAA if I didn’t have that elite level to strive for? Probably not. You’d look at crossing over. What they’re doing in the LGFA and what they’re doing at grassroots, they’re driving it. Big sponsors come in and they’ve helped pumped that money in and there’s a pathway. U16s, U17s, minors, U21s and then you feed into senior.
“We need to look at works for rugby and get it in place because if you don’t have an international team and one that is going to be competitive, we’re going to lose athletes to other sports and we can’t afford to lose with.
“There’s no way we’re letting this go, we have to make the World Cup. That’s the message.
“Obviously, from World Rugby’s point of view you want to give everyone an equal chance to get in but it also makes it a lot harder because you have a lot of obstacles to overcome.
“But the onus comes back on us to make sure we’re pushing the standards to be there. That’s why it’s essential that we now action that because we don’t want to lose that momentum, we don’t want to lose that enthusiasm.”
Lindsay Peat is an ambassador for the 2019 Union Cup, Europe’s biggest LGBT+ inclusive rugby tournament which will be held in DCU from the 7-9 June.
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