As one Six Nations ends another begins, as the women’s tournament kicks off on Saturday. This year’s competition will see the nations split into two pools: England, Italy and Scotland in Pool A, France, Ireland and Wales in Pool B. Each team will play one home and one away match, followed by a Super Saturday final on the 24th of April where the teams who came first in their pool will play off against each other to decide the winner of the tournament. Then the same with second and third place pool winners.
This reduced Six Nations format alongside postponement of the competition exposes the gaps that need addressing within the sport. The delay and scaled-down competition is largely down to a lot of the players still playing at an amateur level and balancing jobs alongside playing rugby – making it difficult to create team ‘bubbles’. The only professional team in the competition is England, with France semi-professional. We can only hope the other nations are able to follow suit soon, with mentions of the Welsh Rugby Union hoping to achieve this in the near future.
The English domestic league, the Allianz Premier 15s, has provided crucial game time leading up to this Six Nations tournament for the England team, with a few players from the likes of the Irish and Welsh squad – including Bristol Bears player and Welsh captain Siwan Lillicrap, also getting time on the pitch with their Premier 15s sides.
Moments like these show we are a long way off women getting the same resources and same footing as the men’s game. The more that international women’s teams turn pro means chances for current and future players to develop, creating a more level playing field on the international stage too.
Despite this, this long break away from international rugby for many players means we can expect a lot of zealous play over the next few weeks – and a lot of zealous watching for that matter too. One massive plus from the women’s tournament not being played at the same time as the men’s means there is no risk of any play being overshadowed, with all games being shown on BBC iPlayer for UK viewers. The more eyes on the games can hopefully only mean more support and talks on getting more teams turning pro, particularly as we look towards the now postponed 2021 Rugby World Cup.
