By Lucy Rees
Siwan Lillicrap believes the first professional contracts for women rugby players in Wales can provide a firm base on which to build the World Cup campaign.
The Wales captain has welcomed the introduction of 10 full-time professional contracts and 15 retainer deals for players in the national squad.
The contracts will be available for players within the international game from 1st January next year.
The news comes ahead of Wales’ autumn campaign starting on Sunday against Japan at Cardiff Arms Park, but while Lillicrap has applauded the Welsh Rugby Union for the move which puts them more in line with other nations, she views it as a starting point rather than a fix.
“As players, we feel this is the best model for us at this stage,” said Lillicrap.
“It’s a structure that gives us an opportunity to prepare for the Rugby World Cup in a better place.
This is huge 🏴❤️
A massive thank you to everyone who made this possible, believed in us, everyone who was honest and brave and most importantly to everyone that listened and allowed us to be heard.Diolch WRU for the opportunities you’re creating for the future of our game ❤️🏴 https://t.co/P7bpj2B7jp
— Siwan Lillicrap (@SiwanLillicrap) November 4, 2021
“It will allow some of our players to commit to being professional athletes and also take charge of certain tasks on behalf of the team, for example around analysis, and others to make decisions around their personal circumstances that will allow them to train and recover in a more manageable way so that we can make strides forward as a group.”
But although the skipper believes the move will assist plans and preparations ahead of next year’s World Cup in New Zealand, she admitted it will not solve all their issues.
“Being completely honest, some players might not take a full-time contract if offered one, potentially, but could move down to retainer and make a decision on their work – whether they drop a day or two – if that suits them better.
“That’s why we thought this model would be best. It would allow people, some individuals, to be full-time, absolutely committed, but as individuals, we’d be able to make that decision based on our personal circumstances over what is the best for us.
“The full-time one, obviously, is enough to obviously be able to be full-time, but people are at different points in their careers and they might make slightly different decisions based upon that.”
“This is just kind of the starting point for us as a squad and there’s lots of other things happening behind the scenes in resources and staff that will help us grow even further. So this is absolutely massive.
12th season in the red shirt ❤
There have been highs & lows but we are on the rise & ready to tackle the Autumns. Don’t take my word for it, come & see for yourself at Cardiff Arms Park.
1️⃣ Japan
2️⃣ SA
3️⃣ CanadaTickets: https://t.co/FpxoazKa9T #wru #rugby #sistersinarms pic.twitter.com/OHadM5RDD2
— Elinor Snowsill (@elsnowsill) November 1, 2021
“Credit to the WRU and the guys in giving us the opportunity to do this the right way and not just enforce something on us, essentially, that we felt as players wouldn’t work. We’re the ones that are on the ground essentially and I guess we’re in a good position to know and feel like what can help us change our future.”
The 10 full-time contracts are likely to be around the £20,000 mark whilst the retainers are to be around £7,500. Whilst this amount probably is not enough to live off alone, it is a huge step in the right direction for women’s rugby in Wales, after the chaos it has been in over recent months.
On the topic of budgeting, performance director, Nigel Walker said: “They’ve still got a choice to make and that is their choice. This is a starting point – I’m not saying next year there’ll be 20% and the next year there’ll be another 20% on it.
“This is a starting point, and we felt it was important to honour the commitment made two or three years ago, and we’ve moved quickly, we’ve reached a position which the players and coaches are happy with.
“The three leading teams in the world, this is all in the public domain, England are around £30,000, France and New Zealand are around £25,000. And then you’ve got Ireland and Scotland, and then you’ve got Wales… roughly I’d put them in the same playing group as Ireland and Scotland. It’s not quite as lucrative as that top group, and that’s as much as you’ll get from me.”
🗨️Nigel Walker on the news that the first contracts will be offered to female rugby players in Wales before the end of the year: “We are committed to making this the best professional women’s programme in the world” pic.twitter.com/NlzVNjVYak
— Welsh Rugby Union 🏉 (@WelshRugbyUnion) November 3, 2021
Some players will be in a tricky situation after this announcement, especially those not working in rugby when not playing.
It is still up in the air if these contracts will be enough for players to leave their outside careers – or take a step back for short-term rugby goals such as next year’s World Cup in New Zealand.
To give a rough idea of how much the WRU is putting into women’s rugby, the Union’s operating budget for its entire women’s programme stands at £2 million, which includes these contracts and everything after the start of the pathway process – this is less than half of what Alun Wyn Jones and his team brought in last week with one fixture at home to New Zealand.
