It has been a case of Grand Slams all round in the Northern Hemisphere as the region’s international tournament season came to an end for another year in March.

Wales, of course, repeated their Grand Slam triumph of 2005 in the RBS Six Nations and hundreds of column inches have deservedly been dedicated to Gatland, Edwards, Ryan Jones, Shane Williams and Co.

But away from the men’s game, women’s rugby has also witnessed some remarkable performances of late, culminating in England’s women winning their own Grand Slam for the third successive year – a unique achievement in any form of rugby.
Despite this domination of the women’s Six Nations, there were clear signs that England’s opponents are improving in all areas, and this year’s competition saw Italy claim their first ever tournament win with a 31-10 defeat of Scotland, while Wales and Ireland also produced encouraging performances.

Women’s rugby is in fact proving more popular than ever before and the sport is becoming increasingly recognised on the international stage. At the media launch of the RBS Six Nations, for instance, the women’s team captains were presented to the press along with their male counterparts.

2009 will also see the Rugby World Cup Sevens tournament include an inaugural women’s event with the best 16 teams from South America, North America and the Caribbean, Asia, Europe, Africa and Oceania battling for the world crown.

Aficionados may have already caught a glimpse of the women’s competition, most recently at the Hong Kong Sevens where the USA defeated Canada 21-7 to win the event. With up to 82 women’s unions taking part in qualifying for the 2009 Sevens World Cup, the global growth of women’s rugby is clearly apparent.

In England, participation at club level is also gaining in prominence. Most clubs have a women’s team and, according to the Rugby Football Union for Women’s (RFUW) figures, there are now 410 clubs under its wing.

These include 170 senior clubs, 80 student clubs, 29 U18s, 103 U16s and 40 schools. Meanwhile, the international set-up is also taking a positive lead from rugby union’s professional environment.

According to the IRB, England captain Catherine Spencer said: “The amount of actual senior clubs is increasing all the time and I think it is only going one way, and that is getting stronger.

“All the time, the performance level at the higher end is increasing and the skill level and talent within the game is getting better year on year.”

To illustrate this point, England’s U20s will be travelling to Canada in July for the U20s Nations Cup with the healthy knowledge that their coach has broken the male-dominated mould and is now one of the top rugby coaches in the country.
Forty-one-year-old Giselle Mather has recently become the first woman to successfully complete the Rugby Football Union’s Level 4 coaching course. The London Irish academy coach took 18 months to complete the gruelling schedule and is now one of only 24 coaches to have achieved this standard.

This can only be good for, not only England’s women, but for women’s rugby in the rest of Britain and Europe, as Giselle’s example leads the way for others to follow.
Yet, despite the forward momentum women’s rugby is experiencing in England and the recent successes enjoyed, being second best to New Zealand is still a painful memory after The Black Ferns’ 25-17 victory in last year’s Women’s World Cup final – retaining their title and status as world champions.

England’s women and the rest of Europe are clearly moving in the right direction to challenge New Zealand’s domination. But they are having to move with the rest of the world and next year’s Sevens World Cup could be the catalyst to increasing women’s rugby coverage and enhancing its growing support.

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