International Women’s Day feature

The theme of this year's International Women's Day is "The Gender Agenda: Gaining Momentum", which we thought was perfectly fitting for women's rugby and the growth and changes that have taken place in recent years. We asked a number of current and former players the following questions and here's what they told us

??There have been lots of positive changes in the international game in recent years and it has become hugely more professional. Examples of this include the access to video analysis available which has definitely improved performances and the standard of the game and the access we have now to a wider management set-up including specialist coaches and medical staff. Media coverage has also really made a difference in Wales. To keep that momentum here in Wales going we need to develop the girls game and develop the club and regional game too. I would love to see an increase in international games and also see more opportunities for very young players to get involved in rugby."

??The most positive change since I have been involved with the women's game is the appreciation from fans, media, sponsors and unions which has steadily grown worldwide. This has allowed the game to become more main-stream, attracting not only more players but athletes from other sports boosting the game??s profile and appeal. Inclusion into the Olympics has taken women's rugby to a place very few people could have predicted in a really short space of time. It is a very exciting time to be involved in the game on all levels and I really look forward to seeing the game flourish. I do however believe the only way to keep this momentum going is to make sure that all countries put some time and resource into growing the base within their home unions, providing meaningful club and national competitions which will in turn continue to strengthen the international competition year by year.??

??The announcement of the Olympic inclusion has grown the sport massively and given it such great exposure and I imagine over the next three years it's only going to get bigger.??

?˜??In Ireland, the biggest change has come since the?˜full integration?˜into the IRFU because with that came increased resources both financially and technically, which has made a huge difference. Following on from that, our results have continuously?˜improved, giving us more media coverage and exposure. Perceptions of the women's game have been broken down and it is now seen as a far more attractive sporting option. It is?˜important now to keep increasing that exposure. Alongside that the game must be made more accessible to girls and women everywhere in Ireland. We need to keep developing our pathways and making the?˜club game as strong as?˜it can be to increase numbers and?˜keep players in the game.??

??The main thing that has changed since I started 10 years ago is the change in facilities we are now using at club level and internationally. When I first started at my club Dolgellau, we trained in a tiny corner of the pitch with one floodlight while the men had a full pitch, but over the years the club saw how the players improved and success came and now we train on first team pitch and we're also joining in with men's sessions. This is similar with the international set up where we started in Llanrumney School playing fields and now we train at the WRU National Centre of Excellence alongside the Wales Seniors, Wales Sevens and the National Age Grade sides. Moving forward a change needs to happen in North Wales or women's rugby will die up here. It has gone from a full league of teams down to one or two due to numbers. Dolgellau folded because there are no juniors coming through as rugby is not being taught in schools to girls. All international players from North Wales have to play in the English league because there are no clubs for them in Wales. Introducing rugby to girls in schools would help to develop players and numbers.??

??I think the most positive change in women??s rugby is that Sevens has become an Olympic sport. This has given the sport a lot of momentum around the world where globally much more attention has gone to women??s rugby. The standard of the game is rising at an unbelievably quick level and there is a World Series which gives is far more exposure.?˜ For me personally it has given me the chance to become a professional rugby player, which is a dream I had never imagined to come true.??The most positive change in women's rugby has been the growth of the Sevens circuit. It has given the women's game a massive platform. One thing to keep the game growing is accessibility - getting as many clubs as possible with women's sides meaning it is easy to get started at a local team."

"The number of young girls involved in rugby, both tag at school and full contact in local communities, has increased and raised awareness. Entry to the sport at grass roots will help cultivate the stars of the future in the women's game!"

??Media exposure and increased TV coverage has made a huge difference to the game. When I started playing people often didn't even know women's rugby existed, and last week on the BBC red button over 100,000 people tuned in to watch England play France. A quite traditional rugby fan said to me recently that he'd tuned in to watch "women's rugby" but by the end he was watching a great game of rugby, which thought was quite a nice way of summing up the change in people's opinions. The other big change is in the players themselves and how the game is being played. Women's rugby years ago even at a high level was very social but now the way the girls prepare for a 6 Nations tournament is no different in many ways to how the men do. They access strength and conditioning, nutritional and skills programmes that have really advanced the standard and the top players are real athletes now. What we need to ensure is with all that is going on with Sevens, is that the 15s game still continues to thrive. Sevens isn't for everyone and the women's game doesn't have the numbers yet to operate separate specialists for both forms but it's very important that both games thrive and not one over the other.??

?˜??It has been well over ten years since women??s rugby started in South Africa. The game has improved tremendously and one drastic change here has been the players shifting their minds from just regular amateur players to a high performance participation mind-set. The support from the union has also made a massive difference in the women??s game and we now have a high performance house in Port Elizabeth where most girls are staying and receiving skills coaching, medical and psychological support and gym access to name a few. This has made our international participation a lot more competitive than before and has brought positive results to the team. To keep it going we need to grow the base of participation here and develop visibility in schools and Clubs.??

??There have been some very positive changes to the game in the last few years. One of them is definitely the increase in media coverage and you can see that from the exposure we have been getting in England. The other real positive has been increased financial support in the international game and that has allowed the standard to improve massively and helped the players to really prove themselves at the top of the game. There's a lot of investment going into nations who are looking at Sevens for the Olympics and that's created a hugely competitive standard in a very short space of time. Standards need to continue to improve so that the women??s game is a product that people will pay money to come and watch.??

"For women??s rugby in Uganda, I think that the most positive change since I started playing is that we are getting girls into the game younger and their parents are very supportive.?˜ We started women??s rugby in Uganda in 2003 and then we mostly had people in their 20s who took up the sport and for most of us our friends and relatives thought that we were crazy.?˜ The youngest player that we had at that time was 17 years old and I really envied her all the years of rugby that she had ahead of her.?˜ Nowadays, we get girls as young as three- years old holding a rugby ball and running around and I wish I could turn back time.?˜ When the young girls understand the concept of passing the ball behind to a team mate they start playing tag rugby, which in Uganda is run by the Tag Rugby Trust, and by the time they turn 12 years old, a good number of the girls have moved onto full contact rugby under the Uganda Women??s Rugby Association and the Uganda Rugby Union.?˜ However, rugby is scattered in pockets around the country making it difficult for both age grade and senior competitions to take place due to logistical reasons.?˜ Although girls?? and women??s rugby is slowly breaking down barriers and gaining acceptance in Uganda resulting in more young girls and women playing the sport our biggest challenge is retaining these players in the game.?˜ Rugby is a minority sport in Uganda, so we do not have the finances to hold regular local competitions to keep girls and women interested in playing rugby and also for the Uganda national team to travel regularly for international 7s tournaments or 15 aside games.?˜ Although we have lots of talented rugby players in Uganda, we need more local games widespread throughout the country from age grade to senior level as well as international competitions/games and technical assistance to keep us within reach of the world??s best teams and this can only be possible with increased funding coming to women??s rugby."

"The most positive change in women's rugby has been the number of playing opportunities. The new Women's Sevens World Series gives teams the opportunity to play in four major tournaments a year, including Dubai 7s alongside the men's series. More competitive games means that the quality of play is getting better across the board, and the gap is closing between the top and periphery teams.?˜It is only a matter of time before the women are filling stadiums and getting international visibility."

"I think the most positive change in the game is people's awareness and interest in women's rugby and that has helped promote the growth and development. Without the support we have and having that support grow we would not be able to have programmes or build on our programmes with the depth that we have now. I think to maintain the momentum we have going forward, having the continuous growth and development comes down to the support. Our personal support obviously, but the?˜support I'm talking about is the staff, the people who go behind the scenes putting on camps, recruiting and developing. The people who promote us, sponsor us, market us, believe in us. We need that to grow as individuals, teams, and as a company. To build a legacy, and?˜be a part of this culture we have created and welcome those who want to be apart of it."