Despite their loss against New Zealand in the Women’s Rugby World Cup final, England’s players still "return home as sporting heroines," but "life will change dramatically for a large proportion of the squad as their contracts will not be renewed," according to Kate Rowan of the London TELEGRAPH. There was "much controversy" when the Rugby Football Union confirmed in July that the XVs deal would not be renewed. The RFU said that there would be 17 sevens contracts for the coming season. But "a number of players" will "return to their day jobs." The RFU insisted the "best way forward" for the development of XVs in the short-term is with the £800,000 ($1.03M) investment in the Premier 15s domestic league competition, with XVs contracts "potentially coming back in the lead-up to the next World Cup" in '21 (TELEGRAPH, 8/27).
BLACK FERNS: The NEW ZEALAND HERALD reported the Black Ferns won the World Cup, which "in turn raised more questions about how to develop women's rugby." When asked about her views on a more professional approach, fullback and Manawatu police constable Selica Winiata said, "It's hard for me to really say -- I'm not in a position to make those calls. ... It is pretty tough and I think you can see what we achieve as a team doing that ... and what we could do if we were actually paid to just train and play the game we love" (NZ HERALD, 8/28).
