No plans for Scotland women to play with names on shirts
Following the culmination of the Guinness Six Nations which saw Scotland’s men compete with their names on their shirts it has been revealed that there is nothing in the pipeline for the women’s national team.
It was announced prior to the Autumn Nations Series that the Scottish men would be one of two countries, alongside England to introduce the idea to help promote players to a wider audience.
Scotland women’s head coach Bryan Easson said: “That’s something the commercial department will deal with and it’s not something we’ll be doing this season.
“Obviously it’s something new that has come in, England are doing it, they were the only team that did it, the rest of the Six Nations didn’t do it and commercially they can do that.
“We actually don’t look at performances having names on the back of the shirts to improve performance, the way we are looking after the girls the way we work together that’s maybe something longer term that we can look at but it’s not something we’re looking at at the moment,” Easson added.
Both Scotland and England’s men continued this through the Six Nations with Italy also getting involved in the promotional scheme.
However, while England’s Red Roses continued this in last weekend’s Six Nations opener at Kingston Park, the SRU will not be replicating the move.
There continue to be calls from within the squad of Scotland Rugby’s professionally contracted players for parity between the two national teams.
Prop Leah Bartlett said: “I think it’s an amazing transition that we’re going through with the real growth of the game and being able to have that would be amazing.
“It’s something that all of us would love to have, that little personal touch as well. Whether it happens in the near future or not we’re just excited for the prospect of that happening.”
The Loughborough Lightning forward continues the narrative that Jade Konkel-Roberts was discussing before Christmas.
Speaking to the Sports Gazette, Konkel-Roberts, who plays her club game at Harlequins explained: “I’d have liked to have my shirt embroidered, let alone have my name on it!”
“It’s the memories as well. If it’s got your name on it, hopefully at the end of the season you get to keep it, it’s memories as well.”
“It’s not just doing it because another nation or club is doing it, it would be really special to have something like that. I say this about my international shirts all the time, if it was embroidered, I could look back at that shirt and be like oh that’s the shirt from when I played against them, that’s the shirt I wore to the World Cup.
“Little things like that, not necessarily because other teams have it, I just think it would be a really special thing.”
In life, the little things matter, which begs the question if the names offer no performance advantage, and finances are not a barrier why bother introducing them for the men and not for the women too, there should not be this difference across the two teams.
The women’s game is in a period of huge growth and rightly or wrongly, the Six Nations Championship is partnered with TikTok- a platform which has huge potential for connecting the public with the wonderful game of rugby.
While the names on shirts rightly offer no performance advantage- they allow fans across the globe to connect with the stars of our game, something governing bodies should be jumping at following such a successful World Cup in New Zealand.
Following the announcement of 28 professional contracts, the SRU have shown some commitment to reeling in the leading nations in the women’s game but they still remain years behind the Red Roses.
However, if the SRU take note of the small details and put in the effort into creating memories for fans and players, parity across the two national teams becomes far more of a reality.
From names to Big Games – what Harlequins Women want for their shirts
