A two day competition, 12 nations, three medals and over four billion viewers – the women's rugby sevens makes its debut at this year’s Summer Olympics and it looks set to be the start of a bright future.
Jill Douglas, ITV rugby presenter and rugby lover agrees. "Rugby sevens becoming an Olympic sport has had a huge impact in what I think is the biggest change in 20 years. It is a UK sport with a global reach. Progressively more nations are emerging with teams and some of those currently just have men’s teams. I think this change will see more women’s teams come into play."
The qualification process for the Olympics consisted of an automatic qualifier for hosts Brazil, the top four teams from the 2014-15 Women’s World Series (WWS), six places for regional qualifiers and one final place in a competition round of 16 teams.
Women’s rugby has just endured five muddy weeks in its most recent quest in the RBS Six Nations Championships. The women's game sat in men's media shadow in this year’s competition. But with the Olympics offering a chance to match the men’s game in the media it could be time for women’s rugby to stand alone.
In over a decade of international games, second-row Tamara Taylor has been capped over 90 times for England. "The inclusion of sevens in the Olympics in 2016 will be massive in promoting the women's game. It will be on television and in all aspects of the media, because the Olympics are huge! This will be the chance for the women’s game to separate itself from the men’s and show its true capability."
By putting the sevens game on a pedestal it will enable women all over the country to see the team sport at a high level. Maggie Alphonsi MBE, former England rugby player and now TV sports commentator recognises a greater awareness of role models under the spotlight of the game. “More and more people are starting to identify that women are playing because of this and they are familiarizing with players’ faces.”
The step forward in media that the Olympics will offer is thought by many to be the most important thing. By showing female role models embracing the traditionally masculine sport it could encourage more women into the game.
In 2014, the Rugby Football Union (RFU) set a target to have more than 25,000 women players within three years.Matthew Bryan, RFU development officer expanded on this. “For us it is about developing the game in terms of the number grass root teams through a pyramid basis. We get teams consisting of all ages in areas close enough that they can have competitive games but far enough apart that clubs have a wide choice for selection of players.
“Seeing women playing rugby whether it is sevens or 15 a-side at a competitive level is crucial because it will raise the profile of the women’s game in general. Additionally, it will be one of the most significant women team sports happening in the Summer Olympics.”
Building on opening the eye to the women's game through the media, the Olympics looks set to show what other formats exists when playing women’s rugby.
Shannon Mossop, Captain for Sunderland University women’s rugby union team feels this opportunity will show there is more to rugby than just hitting each other as hard as possible. "Sevens is a very skillful and tactical game and the squad work hard as a team. Similarly, it allows people to see that rugby is not confined to a 15 a-side game with many people not being aware that tens and sevens teams even exist! Neither did I until I began playing rugby."
Alison Donnelly, Coach for Teddington women’s RFC and founder of Scrum Queens agreed, saying, “The platform is now reaching a global stage that it has never had before. This is where we are seeing a development of new elite groups and to continue this unions need to develop strong and sustainable sevens pathways alongside15 a-side.
“World Rugby must continue to invest in the 15 a-side game and encourage unions to play and invest in both sports. Otherwise, it could impact negatively on the 15s game if too much emphasis is placed on sevens. We can already see some evidence of this in countries like Australia who are now hugely focused on sevens.”
The future of women’s rugby looks primarily towards what the sevens debut in the Olympics can make of itself. This includes both sustaining the elite level game and turning heads to the game as it will be offered the same treatment in the media as the men’s.
With the summer Olympics opening a pathway for women’s rugby there could be another peak in interest in summer – like that we saw after the Women’s Rugby World Cup (WRWC). Ambassador for women’s rugby, Alphonsi said: "The Olympics is a great start but I think it still has more to offer because the game is still growing and so is its profile. I think in years to come we will see more professional women rugby players and the game will follow similar footsteps as to what we have seen with women's football.
“Although I have seen a progression in media coverage for the game with more women’s games and highlights being televised – there is more that can be done. I would like to also see more sponsors and a continuation of the increase in participants.
“I just want the game to grow and for it to be recognised," Maggie Alphonsi MBE, added.
