Rumours are running that Irish players will be offered contracts some time in the near future.
Then come the questions: How many will be offered? How many will be accepted? Part of that decision will be based on a third question: how much will the contracts be worth?
If we were able to see all the full and part-time contracts now available in women’s rugby worldwide, we might be suprised how modest they are. Some women have willingly accepted an income reduction in order to play the game at a higher level for a limited period. That is a consideration that takes a lot of mulling over; many current players are established in careers that they have no wish to surrender; dropping out for a few years is hardly a practical proposition for them.
Leading observers in Ireland insist there is little point in offering contracts if the support structures are not firmly in place. It takes a large group of people specialising in different fields to provide all the back-up needed for professional athletes.
Hybrid, Part-Time, Semi-Pro
Call these contracts what you will, they leave the players in an imperfect world. If a union wants its elite team to be all-conquering, the only answer is to offer full-time contracts. They are expensive, and not everybody wants that life-style, even for a limited period.
The reaction from most if not all Red Roses is that all their Christmases have come at once with the presence (presents?) of their contracts. Many of their opponents envy them their privileged position.
Others take a more nuanced view.
Getting the balance right between work and play is the tricky part. We will gain a truer perspective once French players are in a position to recount their experiences in full. They are at present the part-timers par excellence. Yet the suspicion remains that many of them have to make serious sacrifices to reach their high playing standards.
The Perils of the England-Ireland Game
Did any of the 15,836 spectators at Leicester on Sunday query whether the game should have been taking place at all? Probably very few. But the way it played out raised urgent questions about player safety.
There was one hideous scrum where the Irish pack was heaved backwards to the ground. The rugby authorities might consider themselves fortunate that no-one sustained a very serious injury.
The Irish players showed immense courage and determination in holding out against the English professionals up to half-time. A performance like Neve Jones’ was a huge credit to her and the team. But it had to be a case of diminishing returns.
The modern game moves at such a rapid pace that injuries become more likely. Defenders have less time to check they are in the correct position. It’s one thing to say ‘learn correct tackling techniques early’; quite another to carry them out in the heat of battle.
Brian Moore says ’It’s easy. Just bend at the knees’. That might not be your instant reaction as you turn round to spot a 12-ton steam-roller a yard in front of your nose.
There were two such moments at Leicester: first when Dorothy Wall tried to halt Jess Breach’s advance; second, when Sene Naoupu found herself facing Emily Scarratt.
The outcomes were very different.
Wall received a yellow, Naoupu a red. Breach received a nasty gash above the eye, not to return; Scarratt went off for an HIA and was back in the 79th minute. The referee’s two verdicts might be seen as controversial. If Wall’s offence was deemed less blameworthy, the resulting injury hardly backed that view.
The wretched 7s-15s clash of interests that caused the absence of seven players from a potential first-choice Irish XV led indirectly to that second incident.
The 38-year-old Naoupu had by far the most playing experience in the entire team. She was drafted in to play – after having apparently retired from the top level – only because of the grave shortage of ready replacements. She gained her first cap for Ireland in 2015 and is a member of World Rugby’s Women’s Advisory Council.
One explanation for her misdemeanour might be that she had not had sufficient time to prepare herself for a return to rugby at this level. We can only hope that the damage it did will not have a lasting effect on her opponent. Then there is the effect on her too to consider.
A Hope for the Future
It is just possible that by the start of the 2023 Six Nations every player will be in receipt of some sort of contract. As of now, the Scottish Union is the back-marker in advancing from ‘personal packages’ of assistance to formal contracts.
But even when they are in place, it needs a season or three for them to take full effect.
