Womens' rugby Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread

Quin_Dub

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120514619#Comment_120514619

The concentration of players is a key issue.

The top ~300 womens players are spread across only 4 or 5 clubs which is not sustainable in terms of enough of them getting access to high quality rugby on a week to week basis.

That number of players should be distributed among double that number of teams at the very least giving them more regular rugby but also exposing the next tier of player to a better standard of player and game time , lifting everybodies standards.

Lost Ormond

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120515844#Comment_120515844

Exactly. If you had more players spread across more clubs you can help attract more players and get more clubs to top level easier and you have a higher quality of games.

If you have top players spread across 10 teams as you say you have far more competitive sides which means more high quality rugby which improves standards for provincial rugby and national rugby

Fotish

Not a great result against Scotland today but definate signs of improvement.

CIARAN_BOYLE

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120537108#Comment_120537108

It means women's xv 3rd division this year which could be a big risk regarding our world cup qualification.

Also lower standard of competition.

Goal has to be winning it.

sydthebeat

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120537141#Comment_120537141

Unfortunately winning it won't actually progress that squad in order to face their six Nations opponents again. The standard will be Very poor.

Richard Hillman

It was interesting that Nene said that they had met with the IRFU after a couple of games, because I noticed the chat had changed midway and they weren't too focused on the IRFU being the blame on everything.

Jenny Murphy said that we have the best men's team in the world but look at the women's. Now whilst it is factually correct, the reality is Leinster are the best in the world and that is skewing everything to think that things are ok. Munster and Ulster are failing, Connaught are doing ok. Leinster are basically carrying the whole thing for people to believe that everything in Irish rugby is great.

And even then, you could just attribute it to a select number of secondary schools in Leinster that have an elite rugby program and Leinster Rugby are feeding on it.

There are big problems all round.

kita99

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120537108#Comment_120537108

Whereis such a improvement? I only saw the setback and weakness.

Cosmo Kramer

There was no improvement. Just a reduced scale of beating as we were playing a weaker opponent.

As I've said before I have no problem with the team being poor, as long as they stop going around blaming everyone else to try to deflect the blame from themselves. Hopefully we'll see a shift away from that, because they must have seen by now that they're not doing themselves any favours in the eyes of the public with that approach.

There should be no issue with them coming out and saying we aren't good enough because, as rugby players, this generation simply aren't good enough so they'd just be being honest.

As a country we're never going to replicate the success of the mens' provincial setup in the women's game, because they're just never going to generate the income the men do, no matter how good they are. But we should be at least competitive with Scotland and Wales - if the way to achieve that is to rely on the English system then so be it.

In the short term there's bound to be plenty of talent available to us through Irish qualified players who were born and developed in England and other countries. Finding them and bringing them in ahead of some of the current team may be a short term fix to stop the hammerings - because no amount of coaching or investment will improve the current senior players in the squad to any significant extent.

Fotish

I don’t think there is really any interest or appetite for women’s rugby in Ireland.

Firstly the playing pool among young women is very small , too small to think we can compete at international level,

Also usually played by girls that are not skilled at other sports.

Compare that to the amount of girls playing Gaelic Football, ( 193,000) the skill level and fitness of these girls

is off the scale. Also every small town has a club supporting them.

Is it not same as Ireland starting a women’s Cricket team and expecting it to be able to be competitive,not going to happen.

Lost Ormond

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120538170#Comment_120538170

Its completely false, ignorant and ridiculous to say rugby usually played by women not skilled at other sports.

Have you seen many games either in girls or womens rugby to say that.

Yes the numbers playing gaelic is far more and it isnt near every small town with a club supporting them. maybe in some counties.

Ireland did have teams able to compete. But as other unions changed systems and progressed. Ireland didnt, the team that was very good moved on and retired and Ireland fell back

CIARAN_BOYLE

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120538072#Comment_120538072

Even if they don't want to admit they aren't good enough they could admit that they have a lot of young players and they hope that with experience they will be there in a few seasons.

It doesn't need to be saying they aren't good enough. It can just be that they aren't good enough yet.

We started the last game of the six nations with 13 players with less than 10 caps in the 23.

Fotish

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120538323#Comment_120538323

Ireland did well around 2013/ 2015 but that seems to me to be more the exception than the rule.

England have been the best team 19 times since 2002 and I can only see them getting better.

To put it bluntly ,we are flogging a dead horse.

Lost Ormond

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120540270#Comment_120540270

So because we cant compete with the top side we shouldnt bother? Well you could put same argument to a lot of sports and competitions. including many in male sports. Would you do that? No.

Buddy Bubs

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120538323#Comment_120538323

The 7s program aggressively targeted talented and very fit female athletes from other sports as soon as it became an olympic event. And they had some success.

They knew the talent and athleticism wasn't there within the existing rugby players.

But as we all know, a huge proportion of the season sees a split between these players and the 15s players.

Lost Ormond

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120540422#Comment_120540422

More they saw it as a way to attract others to sport by offering a potential place at an Olympics as a good bargaining tool to get others to play.

When the Mens 7s started up the union did the same with open trials and aggressive targeting of players from other sports. It wasnt because the existing players had a lack of talent or athleticism and many of the best players in 7s - Parsons, ALMC, Higgins and others have been playing rugby all through the age groups in Ballinasloe, Clan, Barnhall

Caranica

McWilliams is gone, no surprise there.

Larbre34

That's pretty much a disaster though. Any semblance of progress they may have had this year is gone. It's back to square one and square one is an existential threat to the representative women's game on this island.

How are they to do anything or get anywhere with continuity, without someone driving a strategy?

kita99

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120544786#Comment_120544786

In Japan, such a this is said that 'cut lizard tail'. Where is true responsibility?

Caranica

I think we have to see what comes out today and later in the week. He could/should have gone Saturday night, that's what coaches tend to do. Bank holiday Monday night is odd and suggests there's more to this.

Clegg

England Women appoint John Mitchell as their new head coach. He was head coach of the New Zealand men's side and a head and assistant coach of a number of other top level club and test sides. Ireland is a long way behind.

https://twitter.com/RugbyPass/status/1653335479679320064?t=0T3v2ujtZ81ECDp3NTjAzw&s=09

Larbre34

Mitchell is a known bollix, will be interesting to see how that gels.

minitrue

Does RTÉ not mentioning the departure of McWilliams yet mean they also don't GAF about women's rugby or they are waiting for the IRFU brief on how to spin it so as not to get put on the blocklist?

connemara man

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120546142#Comment_120546142

they did report it and now have an updated piece on the website

minitrue

I couldn't find any report of it on their site by the time I posted, if I missed one hiding somewhere fair enough.

The "updated" piece now just makes it all stranger, "is believed to have informed members of the squad that he is stepping aside immediately" followed by "The I.R.F.U. can confirm that it is in discussion with Greg McWilliams and until these discussions are concluded, no further comment will be made,"

sydthebeat

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120546606#Comment_120546606

clearly RTE are waiting for definitive news before they report more widely on it. Absolutely no point in reporting on hypotheticals

Larbre34

IRFU say discussions remain ongoing.

Perhaps he mentioned to the players that he intended to submit his resignation, but there's no guarantee the Union will accept it if the agreement is to build on the existing group.

I mean they don't have much choice.

Caranica

His contract only runs to the end of the year, makes no sense to hold him to it.

CIARAN_BOYLE

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120548610#Comment_120548610

I feel like the womens xv 3rd division can probably be treated as a semi development event for our new coach to bed down systems before next years six nations.

Fotish

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120544857#Comment_120544857

Winning a few matches would be a good place to start !

Cosmo Kramer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120544857#Comment_120544857

There was no progress though. They started at square one, finished at square one and losing the coach likely just leaves them in exactly the same place.

It will be interesting to see who is willing to take this role on. A poor team that get an excessive amount of media coverage relative to the actual support base that exists for them and who are not hesitant in throwing others under the bus if it serves their interests. Ideally a female coach may be a better fit here I think if there is someone suitable who is available and willing. But easy to see why many may pass on this opportunity.