“We need to make these games more competitive,” said the England head coach, Simon Middleton, in the build-up to Ireland v England, a match many believe may bring a record Women’s Six Nations scoreline on Saturday. For all the positive records produced by this tournament, including a potential new highest attendance for a women’s match when England face France at Twickenham on 29 April, this could be the one to overshadow the 2023 campaign.
England would beat their own record, currently the 89-0 win over Scotland in 2011, if they execute a huge victory against Ireland. The Red Roses’ biggest victory over Ireland was 79-0 in 2002 and results in this campaign have brought speculation about the potential scoreline.
England have recorded three bonus-point wins with their biggest victory coming against Italy, 68-5. They have scored 185 points and conceded just 15. Ireland, meanwhile, are yet to win and lost 53-3 to France. The experience of both teams is also a factor, with Ireland’s starting 15 having 185 caps between them, compared to England’s starters with 485.
Middleton said this week that the gap needs to close between all nations in the tournament. The last time a nation other than England or France won the title was Ireland in 2015, with the Red Roses winning the past four championships.
“It’s all dependent on how the unions get behind it,” Middleton told BBC Sport. “The rate of acceleration and closing the gap will all depend on funding. We have to make these games more competitive.
“We’ve been in this situation for a long time. We know going back eight years, Ireland were a real force, France, ourselves, and Wales beat an England side in 2015.
“I’m not sure it can continue in the guise it is now where it’s always going to come down to the last game, England and France, because that’s not good for anybody.”
The Ireland head coach, Greg McWilliams, was asked about Middleton’s comments. “There’s no doubt we want the Six Nations to be competitive,” he said. “I think everyone does, as it makes better spectacles. England and France are ahead at the moment. Our job as a union is to continue to improve and develop. We are on our journey. There is an old expression that says you must lose sight of the shore to discover new lands.
“We are always conscious of closing gaps and being competitive. This is another weekend where we will find out a lot about ourselves and reflect and will be smart when we review. The more every team in the Six Nations is competitive, the better the competition is going to be and that is what you want. We want Ireland to be competitive and we are fighting really hard to get to that point.”
The disparity in England’s and Ireland’s results may be surprising on face value but with context the picture becomes clearer. The Rugby Football Union introduced professional contracts for England players in 2019, with 28 initially brought in. Thirty players are currently contracted by the RFU and the versatile back Ellie Kildunne recently told the Big Jim Show podcast that pay on those contracts ranges from £27,000-£35,000.
In Ireland, contracts were offered by the Irish Rugby Football Union in 2022, with 29 players accepting. The contract pay ranges from €15,000-€30,000 (£13,300–£26,570) and the players train full-time in Dublin. It was reported eight players refused a contract with some wanting to remain in England’s Premier 15s.
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It is also understood many of the contracts offered had salaries towards the lower end of the scale, which made it unviable for some players. The Ireland captain Nichola Fryday, who plays for Exeter Chiefs, cited personal reasons: “I think every girl’s situation is different,” she said. “It didn’t just come down to money. It was about a lot of different things for different people.”
Ireland’s tournament is also set against the backdrop of a Daily Telegraph report alleging sexism at the IRFU. It included wide-ranging accusations including the governing body refusing to explore hybrid contracts, players being refused protein before their tour of Japan last year and a prominent figure in the Irish game saying “who gives a fuck about women’s rugby” at IRFU president John Robinson’s dinner in February. The report has sparked a social media movement under the hashtag #IGiveAFuck and there is talk of a protest at half-time of Saturday’s match.
When asked by the Guardian what it is doing to close the gap not only to England but other nations, the IRFU said it is investing millions in the “development of the women’s game”. It has “a dedicated women’s committee and women’s advisory group” to increase participation. A proposal was approved by the IRFU “to adopt 40% female representation on the IRFU Committee by the end of this year”.
It added in a statement: “There are many other facts and programmes to demonstrate the IRFU’s ongoing commitment to making Irish Rugby even more inclusive. Specifically, the recommendations of the Women in Rugby Report which were unanimously accepted by the IRFU Union Committee and are currently being implemented.”
A record defeat is not something anyone wants to see and it could affect how the game grows, especially if the gap between nations does not close. The fight and determination of players is not in question. It is about translating that on to the scoreboard for the Women’s Six Nations to take another step forward.
