IRFU CHIEF EXECUTIVE Kevin Potts believes the Union has regained the confidence of women’s rugby players in Ireland following the ugly fallout from last year’s failure to qualify for the Rugby World Cup.
In December of last year a group of 62 current and former Irish women’s rugby players wrote to the Irish government expressing their loss of trust and confidence in the IRFU.
That development came on the back of a disappointing number of years for the Ireland women’s team. 2021 saw them fail to qualify for this year’s Rugby World Cup, while in 2017 they were knocked out in the pool stages of the tournament, which was held in Ireland.
Tensions between players and the Union then escalated last year following a controversial media briefing with IRFU director of women’s and 7s rugby Anthony Eddy in November. Eddy subsequently stepped down from his position in March of this year.
There have been some positive developments in the months since, with the Union committing to an additional spent of over €2m in the women’s game, and offering professional contracts to women’s 15s players for the first time. However, with those contracts ranging in value from just €15,000 to €30,000, eight players turned down offers to sign up. A total of 29 players have accepted the contracts.
The IRFU’s latest annual report, published last Friday, outlined the Union’s direct investment in the women’s game is now over €5.5m per year, up €2.1m on what was budgeted in previous years.
And Potts believes those steps have helped the Union regain the confidence of players who this time last year, had lost all faith in the IRFU.
“Yes I do,” Potts said. “I’ve taken a very active, personal role in that process. I do believe we have turned a corner significantly.”
The future of the women’s game in Ireland will be back in the spotlight soon, with details of the Women in Rugby Report set to be announced in the coming weeks.
“The IRFU is totally committed to putting the structures in place to drive the women’s game on,” Potts continued.
“The report in the weeks ahead will cover areas from pathways to inclusivity to the competition models and we are determined to put those structures in place.
It will take time, it will take years to get this right. But if it takes years, that is what it will take and we need to be patient.
“We’ve done a lot this year, we’re putting in place a professional programme and it’s not just about contracts and players, we’ve got to put the facilities, staffing, the meeting rooms and all that stuff in place. There’s a huge amount of work going on.
“I’m confident that, yeah… I’d like to think there’s trust from what we’ve done this year. There’s definitely commitment.”
Potts also revealed the IRFU will require ‘significant additional investment, which we do not have’ if they are to make the desired progress around the women’s game, and that they will need financial assistance from external sources to achieve this without impacting current programmes.
He was asked if the women’s game needs to start generating more revenue in order for players to earn more lucrative contracts.
“Right across the world and consistent with other unions, the women’s game is an investment for the future but it is probably the largest area of growth in our game across the world, and yes we all wanted to get to a sustainable basis over the years ahead,” Potts said.
The World Cup final is on (last Saturday) – probably a full house in Eden Park – and I think the World Cup in 2025 in the UK will probably kick it on again. It definitely needs to become sustainable in time but it will take time, and in the meantime we need to invest in it as much as we can afford, which we will do.
“But in terms of salaries, yeah, of course. In pro sport if you’re generating the revenue that will impact your salaries, and if you’re not, there is a level of investment required, which is what we’ve done.”
On the club game, IRFU spending has returned to pre-pandemic levels, but with costs for clubs rising, there is some concern the current levels of support will not be adequate going forward.
“First of all, I’m a club man myself, and I absolutely admire the work that is going on in clubs all around the country and the struggles they have in terms of just keeping it going.
“Ultimately clubs are running themselves and we’re there to support where we can. If I could invest more money in the club game, if we had it to invest, I’d love to do so, but we have what we have.
“In terms of the energy costs and the current issues, we are currently working with Sport Ireland and we’re hopeful that a grant is going to be issued through ourselves, I think through all sports pre-Christmas, in relation to some sort of that support.
“I get the challenge, but you know volunteers right across the country rise to that challenge all the time and we’re there to support them where we can, and we have loan schemes and we run the various programmes.
“They do a good job and we’re aware of it, but we do what we can.”
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