Womens' rugby Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread

fire_man

Wales win!They are a shambles too!

sydthebeat

You reckon??

Fotish

It’s all a bit of a joke ,really.

We have to pretend that there are good women’s rugby players in Ireland , there aren’t !

Then we have to pretend that the IRFU are at fault , they aren’t!

Next, we have to pretend that the public are interested in supporting this stuff, they aren’t!

Other than that everything is rosy in the garden.

Jump_In_Jack

Could both England and France field an amateur side each? And also, could they include Spain and the Netherlands and make it an 8-team tournament; two pools of 4, top two in each pool cross over for playoffs, bottom two in each pool cross over for plate playoffs. Could abbreviate it from 5 weeks to 4 weeks by just having straight playoffs across the two pools, top teams play each other, 2nd place play each other, etc.
But the key problem is the teams are not equal, mixing professional, semi-professional, and amateur teams will not work.

Lost Ormond

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122049890#Comment_122049890

No Because England and France lose out then.

Expansion could happen as it doesn't need to match men's any more now its in its own wjndow

Why Would cutting games be a good thing for anyone from any perspective?

Jump_In_Jack

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122050287#Comment_122050287

Suggestion of cutting games was only if it makes more sense.

I’d see no reason to cut games if there were enough resources to put into it and the players wanted it.

Perhaps a 6 team round robin is the max you’d want, maybe beyond that would need pools?

To the first point about England and France, they aren’t getting anything out of it as it is. There are really only 3 or 4 teams in the world at that level: Eng, NZ, France, and perhaps Canada.

At least France and England have professional leagues to play in, they would be better off having a test series instead of playing amateur sides.

Fotish

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122050331#Comment_122050331

The IRFU offered 37 professional contracts to Ireland Women's Sevens and 15s players, 29 of which were taken up. 

Jump_In_Jack

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122050871#Comment_122050871

It’s welcome investment into the women’s game for sure. How many gave up their jobs to train twice a day for the money they were offered? And how many continue to play but turned down the amount offered?

It will take years for that to have an effect I’d expect. England are at a totally different level and will be for years unfortunately.

sydthebeat

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122050938#Comment_122050938

Averaging between 15k and 30k its not surprising that these contracts were mainly taken up by the very youngsters of the squad, who are based in Dublin.

It's a start, but it's no where near the 27-35k pounds the English girls get ON TOP of their club salary (which to be fair isn't much, but for the test players even 10k it turns 35k into 45k which is certainly liveable)

sydthebeat

Anyway, the money is a complete red herring.

It's that the standard of the domestic competition that the majority of Irish girls play is very poor and no where near the calibre of the English premiership where the English girls ply their trade.

If Ireland are realistic, they should be looking to get teams involved in the premiership

thamus doku

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122050938#Comment_122050938

Exactly. If you think about it logically why would you give up the opportunity to build your career to play full time rugby in the womens game unless you were very well paid and their was a vibrant club game running in tandem with the international game.
Lots of the Irish girls have qualifications in very well paid sectors and we all want to make money and buy a house and build a future for ourselves.

maybe the home nations should invest in a joint club league and use that for the vehicle to push professionalism. Will have to be heavily subsidised but could be a game changer for the women’s game

Jump_In_Jack

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122051569#Comment_122051569

In order to have some elite rugby teams based in Ireland playing a decent number of teams, why not have professional provincial teams where numbers of elite players are low in a province and include professional club teams where numbers are high?

I don’t know what the distribution of the elite players is but a study of that could determine how many elite teams could be formed and where to base them in Ireland and try to get Wales and Scotland to do the same and match the level of quality, and there could be an elite league with maybe 12 teams, maybe 4 teams each.

thamus doku

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122051602#Comment_122051602

Something like that Is The the way forward

If the Irish English Welsh and Scot’s could form a league where the clubs are all owned by the unions and the governments of each country will guarantee funding I believe the private sector would also get involved. We could have a premier women’s rugby league in these islands and the best players and coaches from around the world would come to work. I think there is a real opportunity for something big to be built just like womens soccer game is growing.

it just needs to be funded.

Lost Ormond

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122050331#Comment_122050331

In what area would cutting games make sense especially in the top level of game that is the games best shot at promotion etc right now?

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122051602#Comment_122051602

Because clubs wouldn't be able to go pro? Resources aren't near enough to go pro in any way?

Just look at recent irish squads,the AIL tables and you will see the distribution of players and how the top players àre overwhelming in just a tiny number of clubs

Jump_In_Jack

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122051811#Comment_122051811

It might make sense to have 2 rounds, a gap week and 2 rounds. I’m thinking where there are 8 amateur teams and resources might be an issue.

But obviously wouldn’t cut matches to the detriment of the sport.

The point I was making was do a review of elite players and make a few teams based off that data, if no clubs have enough elite players then stick with provincial teams. The key idea was a small number of elite teams playing a full league of maybe 18-22 matches every season against the best players in Scotland and Wales.

Players could also sign for the English league but would be a loss to the domestic scene.

It would probably take a decade of annual elite league participation for the Irish players to get up to where the English players are already.

The big question is how to fund such a league, it would be like going back to the start of the Celtic league and building it up gradually.

Fotish

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122051602#Comment_122051602

One problem I see, where are these Elite players going to come from ?

The elephant in the room, the playing pool is just too small! unlike Soccer or Gaelic football, where thousands of women participate for the love of the sport ( without renumeration ) and a small percentage make it to the Elite level.

Ben Bailey

Worth keeping in mind that if we better Italy's result (away vs Wales) in our last match (at home to Scotland) then we finish 3rd in this 6N and qualify automatically for the next World Cup finals. Exposure to high level teams helps build quality & public interest in World Cup grows the game here. It's not all doom & gloom.

Fotish

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122053679#Comment_122053679

Not exactly true at all !

sydthebeat

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122061897#Comment_122061897

once we better the italian result by 3 points (to be specific)…..

nigeldaniel

I don't know about 3rd place all I wish to see is team playing with confidence and awareness. The England game might have rattled a few nerves. The first 10 minutes against Scotland will tell a lot.

Larbre34

Wales fighting, but not looking enough to turn over Italy in these last 20 minutes.

Also, what gobshite decided to hold this in an empty Millennium stadium with the roof closed.

Larbre34

Wales just denied a perfectly good try by incompetent officiating.

Simply not good enough at this level.

Larbre34

Try scored anyway off an unnecessary scrum, sparing the Refs blushes.

Scored under the posts and conversion easily taken.

1 minute to clock running out.

fitz

Dunno about that call, looked like contact was shoulder to shoulder.

Larbre34

And its an unlikely Welsh victory to set up a winner take all for WRWC quali in Belfast for Ireland v Scotland!

thamus doku

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122069283#Comment_122069283

I agree, losing today is not the end of the world if the performance is good. It’s all about development.
what i want to see is the 7s players who were heralded as the game changer to actually perform

Parsons and Higgins need to deliver. So far they have not. I don’t want to hear about what they can do, I want to see it.

Larbre34

Poor from O'Brien missing an early touchfinder off a penalty.

thamus doku

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122070241#Comment_122070241

not a big fan of her. Her kicking style is poor.

thamus doku

Djougang has better feet and finds space better than the whole Irish back line. She’s one of our few really solid players.

fitz

Scotland incredibly cynical. Has to be a card coming.