England Women Rugby team offered pro status, seen as a controversial move

rosac

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http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/rugbyunion/international/england/11053391/England-Women-Rugby-World-Cup-winners-to-paid-to-play-RFU-announces.html

This may not be a massive thing all around the world, but after winning the Womens Rugby Union (WRU) World cup in France, the English squad have been offered professional contracts, meaning they can leave their day jobs to focus entirely on training (5 times a week).

I have friends who play WRU, and this is huge for their sport! It shows that the RFU is taking womens rugby more seriously and acknowledging them.

Unfortunately the comments in the above article show that many people don't think it's worth spending money on what is still a minority sport in the country, and there are quite a few leery comments as well.

So what's your thoughts? Is it a good thing for the sport or are the benefits overstated?
 

Genocidicles

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I can't think of a single person who watches women's rugby, and honestly you couldn't pay me to watch it.

So yeah, it does sort of seem like a waste of money to be honest.
 

Smooth Operator

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Are you seriously pushing this into another gender thing?
Have you ever met a sports fan before? There are only two things that exist for them, their sport and their team, everything else is shit for the rest of eternity.

And in general it's really all a waste of money, but if sponsors want to pay them then go ahead.
 

shootthebandit

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Im still waiting to see women in motorsport. I love motorsport in most forms its still pretty male inclusive. In fact motorsport is about as diverse as a Ku Klux Klan meeting. They seriously need to step up their game

I dont really know too much about rugby but if its anything like womens football then I imagine its seriously lacking funding (thus making it less appealing than mens football). I'd imagine even if they go pro its not going to be very well paid
 

Colour Scientist

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Jul 15, 2009
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I really enjoy watching rugby and it's great to see the female players getting some recognition.

Our team beat New Zealand a couple of weeks ago, which was a really great achievement. It's so impressive that they're so dedicated to their sport and balance it with having a full-time job or education.
It may not have as big a following as men's rugby but at least they're getting enough to train full-time rather than trying to balance it with a career.

If it's being introduced in the UK, their team will become better and more competitive which means that Ireland will likely follow suit soon so that's encouraging.


I don't see why people are getting butthurt about it, it's not like they're taking the money out of the pockets of the male players.
 

Johnny Novgorod

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Not something I would pay to watch. Then again I wouldn't pay to watch sports in general, except the FIFA WC every 4 years.
 

Mikeybb

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I don't watch it, but then I don't watch mens rugby either.

The leering detractors are going to leer anyway.

I just hope the team ignores them and takes the opportunity to go pro.
It stands to reason doing so would only help their skill and stamina.
 

DementedSheep

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Can it actually pay its own way now? Don't know why you would watch women's rugby while men's rugby exists unless you're so into rugby you're running out of games to watch.
 

AJ_Lethal

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shootthebandit said:
Im still waiting to see women in motorsport. I love motorsport in most forms its still pretty male inclusive. In fact motorsport is about as diverse as a Ku Klux Klan meeting. They seriously need to step up their game
Have you ever heard of Michelle Mouton? She was a fucking badass back in the day. Or Danica Patrick (although she tends to Maldonado it). Or Sabine Schmitz, the queen of the motherfucking Nurburgring.

There are women in motorsports, but not many in the most famous racing series, mind you; you gotta look in minor and local series. I blame the lack of interest, mainly.
 

Ihateregistering1

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I know that immediately referring to any detractors as "trolls" is modus operandi for any situation such as this, but having seen the how the WNBA worked in the states, I can see how people might have issues.

For those not in the know, the WNBA (Women's National Basketball Association) was basically subsidized for years by taking money from the NBA for (arguably) no other reason than so the NBA could show all the SJWs how progressive and forward thinking it was. Unfortunately, when the NBA needs to make up these funds, it often translates to higher ticket prices for those who only want to watch NBA but not the WNBA.

So in other words, assuming something similar happens here, it means you're paying higher ticket prices to support a sport you don't give a damn about. So you have a right to have an issue with it.

I don't have an issue in the slightest with women's pro sports, but if they can't stand on their own then that doesn't magically become everyone else's problem to resolve.
 

LaoJim

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I hated having to play rugby at school and don't enjoy watching it on TV.
Nonetheless well done the team.

Sleekit said:
i don't agree with professional sport in principal but if someone is offering them contracts one must assume someone thinks they can make money out it.
Ihateregistering1 said:
I don't have an issue in the slightest with women's pro sports, but if they can't stand on their own then that doesn't magically become everyone else's problem to resolve.
I'm not sure if you guys are British/know about Britain, but we do have a national Lottery set up to give money to sports and the government also has projects to support it. We also have a huge problem with obesity in Britain so spending money on encouraging both men and in this case women to take part in sports is not unreasonable. I don't know how much women's rugby as a sport is self-sufficient and how much it relies on funding, but even if the funding is significant I don't see it as a bad thing. Rugby is often perceived as a male sport, having a world-class female team might help this perception.

From the article.

Last year, the England women's football team secured a £4,000 pay increase following successful negotiations with the Football Association, taking their contacts to £20,000 a year.
The article mentions 20 women getting contracts so that's £400,000 at most. (Yeah they'll also need infrastructure) I'm guessing the rugby players are going to get paid less than the footballers and they were probably getting paid part-time salaries to begin with. The coach of the male Rugby team is reportedly getting paid £1million plus, so this really is, if hardly peanuts, not that significant an amount to fund a cup-winning team. The national lottery makes £30million every week. Even if they are being wholly subsidised by the lottery it still seems like money well spent.
 

Wolf In A Bear Suit

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I love rugby, and have played it my entire life. The women's rugby world cup was temporarily a huge deal here in Ireland, and may well have changed the course of the status of women's rugby here forever. I think England's move toward a pro team simply echoes the increased interest in the game following a great World Cup.
That said, as someone who watched the World Cup, there is huge room for improvement in terms of the refereeing. That, was truly awful.
 

joshuaayt

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DementedSheep said:
Can it actually pay its own way now? Don't know why you would watch women's rugby while men's rugby exists unless you're so into rugby you're running out of games to watch.
But why wouldn't you? I don't understand that attitude. The only difference between male and female teams is the amount of hubbub they generate. The game is the same, and I assume people who watch sport do so because they like the sport itself.
 

Varrdy

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I'm all for it - they won the bloody WRU World Cup, which deserves recognition!

As for the trolls...pissing off rugby players, even females ones, is not really a wise move. Just sayin'...
 

rosac

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EDIT: changed title to not include the word "trolls" as it shows obvious bias

Sleekit said:
i don't agree with professional sport in principal but if someone is offering them contracts one must assume someone thinks they can make money out it.
Can I ask why you don't agree with professional sport? These are people who train their bodies to extremes in order to prove themselves, there are links between sporting success and national pride, plus at the end of the day it's entertainment! If actors get paid for providing entertainment, why not sportspeople?

I know that probably comes across as aggressive, but I have difficulty understanding this viewpoint (probably something to do with sport in my life, I'm not pro by a long long way)
 

Khanht Cope

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I think I may prefer watching women's football to men's these days. Although it's lower level, at least it's predominantly still English football and the international team aren't quite the minnows the men are.

While I have no interest in Rugby for either gender, I think this is good as long as it can be made to stand on it's own feet.
 

J Tyran

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joshuaayt said:
DementedSheep said:
Can it actually pay its own way now? Don't know why you would watch women's rugby while men's rugby exists unless you're so into rugby you're running out of games to watch.
But why wouldn't you? I don't understand that attitude. The only difference between male and female teams is the amount of hubbub they generate. The game is the same, and I assume people who watch sport do so because they like the sport itself.
To be honest I'm a Rugby fan and I have never watched womens Rugby, I don't have any objections or prejudices against the idea or anything its just that I have never decided to sit and watch. Its often shoved to the back of the TV schedule too, they never get the media attention for the matches.

I honestly cannot even remember if they have ever advertised matches or anything either, I think its a shame really because if they are good enough to take on international teams and win it has to be worth watching. Maybe going fully professional will help grow the image, the same could be said for a lot of female sports teams too.

They all seem to have that "lower league" image for some reason and the Sports channels schedule often reflects that.