It’s a good start but there’s more to do. We need to put in place a strategy that allows for the development of all levels of Irish women’s rugby and then put in the resources, policies and structures to allow that strategy to succeed.

The solution is not complicated but we need the ‘will and the want’ at every level of the game to make it happen. Fortunately, we only have to look to England and France for models of how the women’s game can be successfully developed.

Unfortunately, the English approach has been so successful that nine of our Six Nations squad are playing in England. We have to put in the competitive structures that would make it attractive for these players to play at home.

There are three levels to women’s rugby in Ireland. Participation rugby, which is age-grade, schools and provincial adult leagues, involves athletes that train and play for fun. It’s in reasonable health but could be better. Dublin age-grade isn’t anywhere as advanced as it should be, nor are the club/school links as strong either. It is the essential base of the women’s rugby pyramid and must be nurtured as it feeds the performance and elite layers

Our elite players are punching above their weight. Ireland sevens are already contracted and, whether we are ready or not, the 15s contracts are on the way.

The greatest potential for improvement is at the level between participation and elite, what we call Performance. This is where athletes are playing at the highest level below international. At Railway, our athletes train nine times a week and we have over 15 staff delivering our programme.

Of our eight athletes that played in the recent Six Nations, six started rugby with us or came through our age-grade. Our athletes want to win Six Nations, World Cups and Olympics with Ireland. What is needed to get there is more than doable.

We need to prioritise getting those with knowledge of each tier of the women’s game to be involved in the committee rooms and decision-making process of the IRFU and the provinces. There is, to use a phrase, plenty of accumulated rugby wisdom there, if we wish to listen to it.

I suggest we build a ten-club Performance League, geographically spread and population considered. We should strive to have any athlete in Ireland no more than 90 minutes from a Performance environment.

Limit those Performance clubs to two sides, playing the same day and ensure that Performance clubs support the participation clubs in their communities. This means Irish players being available for trophy presentations, guesting at training, sharing knowledge with participation coaches, etc.

It also means that Performance clubs should not be competing in the Participation space. Defining a pathway means everyone has somewhere to go for the level of rugby they aspire to and all clubs have a role to play. Naturally, this league would require investment from the clubs and the union. In the UK, the RFU puts £2.4m over three years into their league and each Premier 15s club gets £80k per annum from the RFU, which must be more than matched by the club.

Government support similar to inter-county GAA, where elite female rugby players would get €1,200 grant assistance would be very helpful. We can also help ourselves by engaging corporate Ireland and our third level institutions for scholarships, like the GPA’s 100 scholarships for female inter-county players with ICON Plc’s support. Lidl and Littlewoods’ activation of their sponsorship and the associated profile is a model to follow.

We will have ten Ireland games a year on television every year and we’ve a great story to tell.

We must recognise that players need a full-time performance environment and approximately 25 games a year to develop. The provincial structure works for men’s rugby, because they play in the PRO16 in a professional environment. It doesn’t work for women, as we don’t have a similar league and we can’t keep playing each other.

We still need interprovincial rugby as part of the pathway. Each province should have U16 and U18 teams. Let the adult inter-pro sides be for players from the provincial leagues in their first three years of adult rugby. This will be a quasi-U20s side, as well as sweep up the late developing crossovers. Some of those players will move onto Performance, some will stay in Participation and bring back experience of a higher standard that will benefit their club and all that follow them.

We should have a greater focus on our Schools sevens programme and ensure every school is linked with a club. We can’t afford to bring in players and then lose them from the game. We also need a plan to increase Dublin at age-grade.

Performance Rugby needs an appropriate governance structure and that means under Anthony Eddy and David Nucifora, with elected representatives from the Performance clubs. This would mirror what the RFU has in place, where Conor O’Shea has ultimate oversight of the Premier 15s. Participation committees, which is the current structure, continue to run participation rugby. Let’s ensure both work together.

Women’s sport is moving on, the expectations of female athletes are also moving on. No longer are women happy to just be included. Gone are the times where it’s acceptable to just do enough. But it’s not enough to change the words in a constitution, or to change the membership of a few committees. Women’s rugby in Ireland and the structures that support it, need a radical overhaul.

 

Shirley Corcoran is chair of Railway Union RFC, chair of the Women’s AIL Clubs Committee, and believes Ireland can win a World Cup and an Olympic 7s medal.