Women’s rugby union androcentric practices during Covid-19 pandemic in England: the case of the Premier 15s

<h4><b>Rationale</b></h4><p dir="ltr">The England Rugby Football Union (RFU) introduced law variations into the Women’s Premiership in place of the COVID-19 testing programme provided for men’s league. The women experienced several match cancellations, schedule and format changes, and their 2019–2020 league being declared null and void.</p><h4><b>Aim</b></h4><p dir="ltr">To explore English Premier 15s league (EPL15s) women’s rugby players perceptions of these androcentric practices during the COVID-19 pandemic.</p><h4><b>Methodology</b></h4><p dir="ltr">Semi-structured interviews with 11 EPL15s women's rugby players were carried out for data collection and reflexive thematic analysis was applied using NVivo.</p><h4><b>Findings</b></h4><p dir="ltr">Women had always experienced an androcentric culture in rugby that was only exacerbated during the pandemic. Participants described disparities in funding, facilities, equipment, training, resources, medical care, and media coverage compared to their male counterparts. A patriarchal gender hierarchy is still prevalent and that it solidifies women’s position as “the other” in English rugby.</p><h4><b>Practical and Social Implications</b></h4><p dir="ltr">Significant investment in women's rugby, an increase in media coverage and better governance practices are needed to address gender inequality in rugby. More egalitarian structures must be established at all levels of the RFU to achieve equal opportunities, better funding and greater exposure for women, as well as a higher level of women rugby professionalisation.</p>