Fiona Coghlan not surprised by reluctance to take up contract offers

A large rump of the top women’s XVs players was absent from the list of 29 names that have signed up for central, professional contracts

Wed, 02 Nov, 2022 - 14:00

Brendan O'Brien

Fiona Coghlan wasn’t surprised to see that a number of senior players had not taken up the offer of IRFU contracts.

A large rump of the top women’s XVs players was absent from the list of 29 names that have signed up for central, professional contracts when it was released via email by the union on Wednesday morning.

That number is made up mostly of Sevens players. Among the XVs players not included are current captain Nichola Fryday, players’ player of the year Sam Monaghan and Guinness Rugby Writers’ player of the year Neve Jones.

All three are based and play in England. Among the ten who have committed to the IRFU deals and a Women’s XVs High Performance Programme that kicks off this week are Dorothy Wall, Linda Djougang and Kathryn Dane.

The IRFU was criticised for failing to launch a professional pathway for its XVs players sooner but matters have moved quickly this year given it is only February since a review was published into the failure of the team to make the ongoing World Cup in New Zealand.

Coghlan made the point that players in England were already under contract with their clubs prior to all this happening and added that the offer of a €30,000 contract just won’t be viable for many older players with full-time jobs and mortgages.

“With regard to the money offered, from €15k up to €30k, I think that's kind of in line with England where the max is £32k with match fees and training fees on top of it,” the former Ireland captain explained.

"New Zealand's is actually way ahead, they're forging ahead. In France the girls are still all semi-pro to allow them to work because that is what they felt would work best, so whether France change their model going forward it will be interesting to see.

“So look, I'm not surprised first off that there wasn't a full take-up of the contracts. I think it will evolve and develop and with more girls coming in at a younger age, they'll certainly take it up quicker.

“If you think back to when the men's game went pro, very few took them up at the start and it was similar low money so the women's game needs contracts that are sustainable, that the IRFU can offer them long-term deals as opposed to just one or two years."

Coghlan sees plenty of other creases that need ironing up ahead. Will the IRFU ape the men’s provincial model, or will they opt for the proposed Celtic Cup model that will mean games against sides from Wales and Scotland instead?

That's just one of them.

Her biggest worry is the manner in which players are being lost to the XVs side in favour of Sevens duties during the Six Nations and all the more so next year given the competition will serve as a qualifier for the new Women’s XVs event.

“We need to get into that Tier 1 competition so we need to be winning all those away games that we have next year. I just don't see how you can take a whole backline away and then replace them. You're better off with just going with whoever is available for the XVs game.”

Women's Contracted Players, 2022/23 Season:

Kathy Baker, Natasja Beehan, Claire Boles, Enya Breen, Megan Burns, Aoife Dalton, Kathryn Dane, Méabh Deely, Linda Djougang, Vicky Elmes Kinlan, Kate Farrell McCabe, Stacey Flood, Katie Heffernan, Eve Higgins, Brittany Hogan, Erin King, Lucinda Kinghan, Emily Lane, Anna McGann, Lucy Mulhall, Amee-Leigh Murphy Crowe, Dannah O'Brien, Maeve Óg O'Leary, Beibhinn Parsons, Aoibheann Reilly, Leah Tarpey, Aoife Wafer, Kayla Waldron, Dorothy Wall.

*Fiona Coghlan was speaking at the launch of Canterbury’s new Ireland rugby Heritage jersey which is available now via Intersport Elverys in store, via Elverys.ie, and on Canterbury.com