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A brilliant documentary giving an insight into the lives of female rugby players and the day to day challenges they face and overcome to excel in their sport.
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A brilliant documentary giving an insight into the lives of female rugby players and the day to day challenges they face and overcome to excel in their sport.
*
#watchfreemovie
#watcnow
#fullmovie
#watchonlinemovie
#freestreaming
#StreamingNow
#MovieRecommendations
#MustWatch
#ClassicMovies
#Thriller
#Mystery
#WatchOnline
#TopRatedMovies
#CinemaLovers
#DramaFilm
#ForeignFilms
#AwardWinning
#MovieOfTheDay
#InstantClassic
#FeelGoodMovies
#RetroMovies
#MovieClips
#BestCinematography
#StreamingTonight
#LateNightMovies
#RomanticDrama
#Top10Movies
#PopcornTime
#MovieMarathon
#LoveStory
#romanticmovie
#WatchFree
#FreeMoviesOnline
#FilmOfTheYear
#BestMoviesEver
#Comedy
#FunnyMovie
#mustwatchmovie
#Movie
#Film
#filme
#Movies
#FullMovies
#ActionMovies
#ComedyMovies
#HorrorMovies
#DramaMovies
#RomanticMovies
#ThrillerMovies
#EuropeanFilms
#europeanmovie
#FrenchCinema
#SpanishMovies
#ItalianFilms
#GermanMovies
#EuropeanMovieClips
#EuropeanFilmFestival
#BestEuropeanMovies
#TopEuropeanFilms
#ClassicEuropeanCinema
#EuropeanDramaFilms
#EuropeanFilmAwards
#ScandinavianMovies
#EuropeanHorrorFilms
#EuropeanComedyMovies
#EuropeanArtFilms
#EuropeanIndieFilms
Category
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Short filmTranscript
00:00:00This is not just about rugby, this is not just about the sport, it's about women and it's about women's sport and it's about putting us on a platform and knowing that we can do it.
00:00:30I challenge anyone to say that women's rugby is not good enough and women are not good enough, of course we are.
00:01:00I challenge anyone to say that women's rugby is not good enough, of course we are not good enough, of course we are not good enough.
00:01:12I'm still surprised in 2021 that people are surprised that women even play rugby.
00:01:31I think women's rugby is so far behind men, if you think about the time at which more formal rugby started, women really there were considered so frail and weak.
00:01:39People used to come and watch a game because they wanted to laugh at women rolling around in the mud.
00:01:43So many people, men and women, believe women shouldn't be playing sports, shouldn't be playing rugby.
00:01:47Young girls growing up, they don't see female athletes being celebrated in the way male athletes are, what can I say to them?
00:01:54Despite a healthy press interest back at Twickenham today, there are no plans for the women's game to go professional.
00:02:00Apparently, we're second class citizens in sport and that's just how it's supposed to be treated.
00:02:05It's tough for female athletes, they just want to play a sport they love.
00:02:08No matter what level it is, you tend to find that they'll face a lot of abuse for it, whether it's at grassroots or international level, in personal or online.
00:02:15I actually push back really hard against this idea of don't worry, it'll make you stronger, because it doesn't, it stays with you forever.
00:02:21So, my career path in brief is pretty much started playing rugby at Meadoway Rugby Club in 2015.
00:02:33Had my first game in December 2015 and was playing for England by November 2017, less than two years later.
00:02:41I'm Shauna Brown and I currently play rugby for Harlequins in England as a tight head prop.
00:02:52Before rugby, I was very much into my athletics, it was shot put and discos and eventually hammer throw as well.
00:02:58And then my ultimate in the career was competing for England at the Commonwealth Games in 2014, throwing the hammer, made it to the final.
00:03:05That was what I'd done before rugby, but even within that, I would do sort of anything that came up in terms of opportunity to try different sports.
00:03:15I tried Highland Games, strong women competitions, boxing, anything that was offered to me, I would try and say yes to.
00:03:21And I think that's part of why I've been so successful so quickly in rugby.
00:03:25It's just because of my sporting background and having a great foundation to then go off and do any sport.
00:03:29From Commonwealth Games, I kind of was on a bit of a low with it all and sort of started falling out of love with the sport.
00:03:43And instead of just either carrying on and being unhappy or just stopping altogether, I thought, well, I'll look for a new challenge.
00:03:53And literally just looked up my local rugby club, emailed them, said, can I come and play?
00:04:00And they went, yeah, of course you can. We train once a week on a Tuesday. Very welcome to come down.
00:04:05And so I did with my mum, my super fan, 25 years old.
00:04:10And my mum's introduced me like, this is Shauna. She's never played before. Can she play?
00:04:14I'm like, mum, I'm 25. I can do it myself.
00:04:18But yeah, she was very much present for my first session.
00:04:22And again, even now, mum is my superwoman, super fan.
00:04:26I suppose looking back, she has always been the person that she is.
00:04:30When she was younger, she always had male, like boyfriend, not boyfriends, but male friends.
00:04:35All her friends were always boys, you know, and she played football.
00:04:38She hung upside down on the monkey bars and would say, don't make me wear a dress
00:04:42because I don't want to show my knickers off, you know, and stuff like that.
00:04:47Growing up, would you agree that I was a tomboy?
00:04:51Definitely.
00:04:52And what about, like, transgender? Did you ever think I wanted to be a boy?
00:04:57No.
00:04:58No.
00:04:59So, like, I used to get that constantly, the question, or not even a question,
00:05:02it's like, oh, you want to be a boy? Because how you used to do my hair?
00:05:05Do you remember? I used to do my hair with my plaits.
00:05:07And it was always like, are you a boy or a girl? And I'd be like, I'm a girl.
00:05:10But I had that when I was younger. I was a tomboy. Not as much as you,
00:05:14because I grew out of mine, but people used to, I had my hair cut short,
00:05:17shaved and everything. And people used to think I was a boy.
00:05:20I remember sitting on the bus once and a group of people thought I was a boy.
00:05:26I think there are probably a lot of women in the world that are naturally
00:05:30not afraid of physicality, not afraid of contact and not afraid of being strong.
00:05:34And there are very few places that women with that mentality get to exist,
00:05:40but also excel. And I think that's why rugby resonated so deeply with me.
00:05:44I'm Steph Evans. I play for Bristol Bears Women, and I founded Rugged RFC.
00:05:49It's exciting.
00:05:50I started playing when I was in high school. So I tried other sports.
00:05:53I really wanted to be good at a sport, and I just couldn't find one that I felt good at.
00:05:57There's also not a lot of contact sports available for girls,
00:06:01or physical sports available for girls in school.
00:06:03When a friend of mine asked me to come try out for rugby in grade 10,
00:06:07I'd never seen a rugby game before in my entire life.
00:06:09I didn't even know what the ball looked like.
00:06:11And I went to my first practice, and there was an introductory element of contact to it,
00:06:16which really blew my mind. I had no idea what the rules were still.
00:06:19And I was like, done, I'm in.
00:06:21And I was like, all right, I'm going to, for the next little while,
00:06:23I'm going to put everything into seeing how far I can take this.
00:06:27And I'm going to go until the point where somebody says, you know.
00:06:31You want to leave the jersey and the game as a whole better than you found it.
00:06:35And nobody is doing it without a huge level of love and determination and passion.
00:06:41And I think maybe we wouldn't love it as much if the game wasn't as empowering
00:06:46or as freeing as it is for a lot of us.
00:06:50There's not that many opportunities.
00:06:52The type of female that excels in rugby to excel elsewhere in the same way.
00:06:57You know, we need the sport just as much as the sport needs us.
00:07:03For me, playing rugby for Harlequins is, it's all I know.
00:07:07I had my first club of Medway rugby club, which I was at sort of half a season.
00:07:11And ever since then, I've only ever known the Harlequins way of playing rugby.
00:07:14My whole rugby life is Harlequins. And so for me, it is very special.
00:07:18And it's a special club to me.
00:07:19And I still hope to grow the relationship as we continue in the future as well.
00:07:23There's so many people that didn't realise women aren't professional actually.
00:07:29So when I tell people, like in 2021, I'm a professional rugby player.
00:07:34And they go, that's cool. As if it's completely normal.
00:07:38And then I sort of emphasise, well, there's actually only 28 of us English professional women rugby players in the country.
00:07:44I'm like, wow, I thought like I thought everyone was professional, especially when you play premiership rugby with Harlequins amongst the top 10 clubs in the country.
00:07:55They just assume everyone's professional, but actually so much of our team go to work.
00:08:03The vast majority of the people that play in my league don't have agents.
00:08:07We don't get paid. You know, some get something, some get expenses, some get nothing or a lot get nothing.
00:08:13And we don't have somebody advocating for our, you know, on behalf of us.
00:08:22To play the premiership, you have to obviously give up a lot of things or manage a lot of things.
00:08:27Most of the difficulty lies in scheduling because you have a huge workload associated with training and with fitness that has to be worked around or fit in with the things you have to do for your career.
00:08:41Whether it's nine to fives or whether they're teachers, whether they're soldiers, paramedics, we have doctors, we have dentists within our team and still expecting to play a professional level of rugby whilst not, not being professional rugby players.
00:08:56You also have to block out time for recovery, which is usually the first thing that you want to cut into when you're trying to fit in a lot of other things usually to do with, with your day job.
00:09:11But it's, it's really important in order to kind of keep yourself at a good enough standard that you can perform in the way you want to perform.
00:09:18A lot of people that aren't intimately acquainted with what it's like to do it don't understand the level of commitment required.
00:09:28It can be physically demanding, of course, and it can be mentally and emotionally demanding.
00:09:34But for me anyways, the hardest part is the, is that validation process.
00:09:38That's the part that I feel the most taxed by.
00:09:41Like you spend a lot of time having these little micro conversations justifying and explaining what you do and why it takes so much time.
00:09:47And that can be, I think, emotionally very draining.
00:09:51It is an honor to be a professional female in sport because growing up, like sport has been and is my whole life.
00:10:00And it's something I always wanted to do.
00:10:02So it's an honor now that I am a full time professional athlete and it makes me proud to say it out loud.
00:10:08It does come with its pressures and you are rightly so expected to know a lot more about rugby and the game and the team and to work harder in the gym and put more time in and sort of be that, even within our team, be that senior player, be that role model to enable other people to sort of come and want to follow in your footsteps.
00:10:33When I was a kid and I was growing up, it wasn't a very body positive place, especially for somebody who didn't look like, you know, what most people thought a woman should look like or a girl should look like.
00:10:49I've always been a large person.
00:10:51I've always been big.
00:10:52And as a kid, I got bullied really bad for it actually all through elementary school and into high school as well.
00:10:57And being physical in sports in school didn't, didn't really help that whole dynamic, I guess.
00:11:02It seems to give the people who are already looking for ways to attack me, it seemed to give them more ammunition.
00:11:09Starting about seven, six or seven until I went to high school at 13, I had this like group of boys that used to follow me home from school throwing rocks at me.
00:11:17They used to tell me like I should go kill myself because I was fat and ugly.
00:11:21So I felt for the majority of my time at school like pretty monstrous actually.
00:11:28Like something was wrong with the way I looked but then also something was wrong with the way I acted.
00:11:33And probably also why I felt so strongly about finding a place where I could fit in because I didn't feel like I had that.
00:11:40I think that rugby.
00:11:42Oh, I'm going to cry.
00:11:43Oh, it's definitely going to make me cry.
00:11:47I'm going to give you a hug.
00:11:49I think that rugby was the first time I can remember feeling like maybe the problem wasn't me.
00:11:58Maybe the problem was that I hadn't found a place that I could exist the way that I was.
00:12:02And rugby is inclusive in so many different ways.
00:12:05It celebrates a lot of different body types, especially at the recreational level.
00:12:08It's something that doesn't discriminate like everybody's welcome.
00:12:12There's just a lot of things about that the game itself of rugby that I think create a community around it.
00:12:18That is extremely inclusive and becomes welcoming to a lot of people who have never maybe felt that in other arenas.
00:12:24I think that like my experience is probably specific to a few key things.
00:12:28That feeling I think is probably pretty universal from a lot of people who play it.
00:12:33Growing up in terms of negativity, I'd say I got teased at school a lot.
00:12:42But I would say it was constant, but from different people and to the point where I just thought it was normal.
00:12:48If I get teased, everyone must get teased.
00:12:50That whole thing of not really being aware of what's going on and the fact that I was a bit different.
00:12:55But I get called a he-she, a she-man, a she-hulk, and mum used to tell me, oh, they're just jealous.
00:13:01So that's all I kind of went with. I thought, they're just jealous.
00:13:04And again, it's like that strong mum that I had just to tell me that, like, you are good enough.
00:13:09You can do what you want to do and you can be different and it's okay.
00:13:13There's not many big stories I can tell you of, like, where I discriminated against.
00:13:16But it's more just the subtleties of constant society saying, oh, you shouldn't be looking like that.
00:13:21You shouldn't be talking like that. You shouldn't be wearing that.
00:13:24And just having a mum who just said, do what you want. Do what you want.
00:13:29For me now, as I'm getting older, I realise how powerful that was and how much, again, mum has done for me and us as her kids and grandkids growing up now.
00:13:38But I love it now. I'm like the odd one out so often.
00:13:41And I just enjoy reminding people that we can be whoever we want to be. We can do what we want to do.
00:13:47If you want to be a girl and wear a dress, that's fine. If you want to play rugby and wear makeup, that's fine.
00:13:52If you don't want to wear makeup, that's also fine. It's just like doing what you want to do because you want to do it,
00:13:57not because your mum, your dad, your friends, your teachers or society tells you to do it.
00:14:02It's just about feeling comfortable within yourself.
00:14:04It's just a lot easier to live how you want to live, in my opinion.
00:14:08There aren't a whole lot of female role models available in the media that have any sort of diversity to them.
00:14:29When we look at the type of femininity that we still tend to celebrate the most or tends to offer women the most power in society.
00:14:39We still see a lot of reality stars, models, singers, and there's absolutely nothing wrong with portraying yourself like that
00:14:47or by accessing power by what you look like. That's absolutely fine.
00:14:51But that can't be the only way that we offer women and girls success in the world.
00:14:55There have to be other options because not everybody fits in the same box.
00:15:01And there are a lot of women and girls that could use role models that don't all look the same.
00:15:15Female rugby players really kind of hit that nail on the head because there is so much diversity in body type.
00:15:21And I think that there is something very powerful about them being athletes.
00:15:29The arena of sport offers a way to celebrate your body and to value your body and to love your body quite a lot.
00:15:35But not for what it looks like, but for what it can do.
00:15:37I think it's very important that we make it very obvious to women and to young girls especially that they can access power with their bodies in a way that's not tied to what it looks like.
00:15:48That's, I think, a hugely powerful message that women's rugby can communicate.
00:15:52I think I love rugby because of the community that it creates for people.
00:16:06As soon as you put your body on the line for 22 other people, you've made friends for life.
00:16:12And that, I wouldn't give up for the world.
00:16:16I'm Victoria Rush. I'm a rugby player and a producer.
00:16:22Rugby's always been a hobby. It's just been something I loved.
00:16:24It's come in and out of my life for many years.
00:16:26And then in 2020, during lockdown, I realised how much I missed the community of players.
00:16:34It was actually the I Am Enough movement that really brought me back into the game.
00:16:38I started I Am Enough by posting a photo of me in my kit, in all the kits I'd ever played in, to represent who I am and what rugby means to me and to give other people the opportunity to do the same.
00:16:53It resonated with how I always felt in sport, that I wasn't enough as I am to represent my team or myself.
00:17:05The movement went so far and so wide.
00:17:07We had players from London to Hong Kong, Australia, the USA, all coming together, who cared about the sport as much as I did.
00:17:15And that moment for me made me realise how much I needed to come back.
00:17:21So when the Canterbury Irish kit launch came out and saw the pictures, for me, in my head, I'm just like, oh, classic.
00:17:30And it doesn't come as a surprise.
00:17:31They launched the kit with male players, but to represent the female kit, they used models.
00:17:36That really, for all women in the game, represented everything that we faced.
00:17:40And it was very much a, oh, like another campaign that's overlooked us as women players.
00:17:45It may not have been a massive decision they made. In fact, I know it wasn't.
00:17:49It's just that lack of thought and lack of realising that it's probably not a good idea.
00:17:55And that could come down to who's making those decisions.
00:17:56And that's a whole different conversation as to who's in those board meetings, who's got the power to make those decisions.
00:18:01It was good to Canterbury to then be big enough and brave enough to come out and apologise because they could have done what so many companies do and pretend that it's nothing and downplay it.
00:18:11But they publicly apologised and then moved forward from that, come out with the positive statements as to how they're going to change the game and how important brands are to rugby.
00:18:20They've taken the hit in that moment in time. But actually, there's a lot of people who would have sat back and had a look at themselves and had a look at what people they're using to promote their products, like how many women's products they have available even on their page.
00:18:34And now it's about looking forward and looking for change.
00:18:372020, I think for all women's sport felt different. Our games were given up a lot earlier, a lot faster and a lot more easily. There was this huge sense of loss to women's sport and rugby especially.
00:18:51We thought with I am enough that we had really made a significant change, but roll forward six months later and we weren't ready for what was going to happen next.
00:19:07I Care started in response to some trolling that was posted on a Six Nations postponement announcement that went out on Sky Sports.
00:19:24It was very simply a post saying that the women's Six Nations had been postponed. There was no opinion or judgement attached to that. It was just communicating the fact that the postponement was happening.
00:19:35It was really disappointing that the Six Nations was postponed, but I think the response was just so much worse.
00:19:44There was a huge amount of people commenting on that post, something to the lines of nobody cares or this doesn't matter. Nobody cares about women's rugby.
00:19:53And I felt like it was very important for us as a community to make it abundantly clear to anybody who was commenting on that post, but also anybody who was looking at that post and going through the comments that quite a lot of us do care deeply about the sport.
00:20:08I think I care just showed the community that we are still together and we're in this together to have hundreds if not thousands of people tell you that they care to men and women.
00:20:23It's a huge moment and it's something to really be proud of and to not really forget on the tougher days.
00:20:28I also think it's really important for anybody seeing it, especially young girls who might come across that post or might see anything to do with eye care as a movement, as a hashtag, to know that the way that they want to exist in sport as an athlete is something that a lot of people care very deeply about.
00:20:46And they might come across messaging in the future that suggests otherwise, but I hope that they come away with their interaction with eye care and with this movement, knowing that those messages are in the minimum and the vast majority of us and the vast majority of the world at large wants them to be here and holds a place for them.
00:21:06In the world of women's rugby, I think it feels a little bit uphill all the time, day in day out to some degree validating why we try so hard at this, why we put so much into it, why it matters.
00:21:34The sport gives me so much. It gives everybody who plays it so much.
00:21:39And the idea that somebody wants to go out of their way to tell me that that doesn't matter, I think is not okay.
00:22:04The sport brings me so much.
00:22:29the whole reason that that it's possible for something like the comments that were being
00:22:37made to happen is because for a lot of those people that might be the first time they're
00:22:41coming across women's rugby content or the first time they're coming across women's sport content
00:22:45in a significant way on a channel that they're used to following we're not creating enough
00:22:50content around women's rugby and we're not creating enough content around women's sport
00:22:53in general because if we were those thoughts wouldn't be happening and they would not be
00:22:59expressed on the internet when they postponed the six nations i felt a lot of hope that having those
00:23:11dates run separately to the men's tournament a lot of excitement as well that um that could be a huge
00:23:16opportunity and i feel i almost immediately felt okay you know this is frustrating but there's
00:23:22there's a big advantage that we could play with this if we do if we do it right as a community
00:23:26so six nations this year was it was different in a lot of ways some good some bad the main reason why
00:23:32we played in in april as opposed to the usual slot was because of covid and it was kind of the forced
00:23:37move but actually it turned out to be a lot better for us and we discovered that that we get a lot
00:23:42more media attention around it we're now not in the shadow of the men we actually like we have the month
00:23:47of april to do our six nations and actually when you speak to journalists they prefer it as well and
00:23:51people in the media because they don't have to write about three rugby games because you've also
00:23:55got the the under 20 men's as well like they could just write about one rugby game a week and it's
00:24:00just that constant flow of rugby and you don't joke about like three buses waiting ages for a bus and
00:24:05then three buses come along at once like it's no good to have all three but you can't get on all
00:24:09three buses you can only get on one at a time so why not spread them out
00:24:13we're in 2021 you still can't access the allianz premier 15s easily unless you're a die-hard fan
00:24:23willing to persevere through all sorts of forms and websites it's actually quite difficult to stream
00:24:28what you want to watch that's going to massively inhibit young kids coming and finding the game and
00:24:34learning about rugby and learning about women's rugby there are so many amazing players that they
00:24:38don't get to see that it's a loss if anything for the game this is part of the problem is you have
00:24:44to look for it it is out there sometimes but you have to go looking and even when you know what
00:24:51you're looking for again like we hear stories from people I couldn't find a live stream like the
00:24:56website wasn't working I had to sign my life away to sort of get it
00:25:01the premiership is not televised yet in all honesty I don't think it's ready in terms of a product
00:25:14to go on TV because we're not professional we're not all professional players we can go and win games
00:25:21by like 40 or 50 nil sometimes and I'm not sure people seeing that it's going to grow the game
00:25:34getting it more accessible but also improving the product for people to want to watch it rather
00:25:40than have to go looking for it
00:25:51we're doing as much as we can in the sport there's always more to do I like to think I do my bit and
00:25:59like having other people do their bit as well as long as we all do our bit to promote the sport
00:26:02there's so many things in the game that need to change but one thing I think we all agree on is
00:26:07that we need a kit for women so why are we still playing in men's kit it doesn't fit and it doesn't
00:26:11work for us the reason that it's so in my opinion inappropriate for women to wear men's shorts to play
00:26:17and train in is that you'll end up with all sorts of rubbing you'll have to be rolling your shorts
00:26:21to have them fit I've had repetitive hip flexor strain from scrumming in men's shorts something
00:26:28that has to be managed with a physio because of wearing men's shorts there is a definitely an
00:26:32aesthetic component to it but the largest component of it is performance-based the shorts are probably
00:26:38the thing that most people most women will identify with as being like the the catalyst the
00:26:45hardest thing to solve to play rugby in I've had a lot of conversations with male players or people
00:26:50that are positions of purchasing for their club about kit and they'll usually say oh you know we
00:26:56would really love to have women's kit we would really love that and if you and if you ask them
00:27:01they would absolutely tell you that they love their women's program and I believe that they do but
00:27:04immediately on the other side of that they will say well we have to buy one pair of shorts there will
00:27:09be like a financial or economic reason that they have to purchase one short for the entire club
00:27:13my standard response to that is okay well for the last like 75-ish years you've done it that way
00:27:19with men's kit why don't for next year why don't we just like do the exact same thing we'll buy one
00:27:23short and we'll just buy women's shorts and the men like can figure out do the same thing that they
00:27:27can take the size chart and be like okay I would be a whatever and we'll just like for one year
00:27:31and they always laugh they always laugh or they snore that would be ridiculous and I'm like so you agree
00:27:37it sounds a bit dramatic to say it makes you feel unwanted but kind of something like that
00:27:43it's a mixed message of of like come in to this community and play this sport we want you here
00:27:48but we make nothing for you to do the sport in I started ragette because well selfishly I didn't
00:27:55have shorts that I felt comfortable playing in and I wanted to solve that problem for myself I guess
00:28:00this is the classic femme fit short it's our best-selling short we have this in multiple
00:28:05fabrics now we have it in a ton of colors a ton of fabrics a ton of finishing options we do custom
00:28:10stuff for teams I don't think about what it feels like to play in them because I forget that I'm
00:28:13wearing them because I don't have to be thinking about what I'm wearing and that was the biggest
00:28:17annoyance previously wearing men's shorts being pulled away mentally from what you're doing
00:28:24to think about like this is uncomfortable I'm adjusting I'm adjusting my shorts you're pulling
00:28:28your shorts down you're pulling your shorts up you're re-rolling that you're re-rolling the waist
00:28:31you might not even realize how often you're doing it until you're not the fact that you can just
00:28:37not not have that whole mental process happen is it's quite freeing really because you can focus
00:28:43on what you're supposed to be doing which is playing a sport regardless of the level that you play at
00:28:48you know we all deserve to have the experience of feeling like the kit that we are playing that
00:28:54sport and can keep up with what we're doing boots for me is not something I recognize as being a
00:28:59problem as a woman because I wear size eight and size eights and size nines which is a common men's
00:29:05size so I don't have a problem but then our smaller players who are sort of size fours fives and sixes
00:29:09they have no choice but to wear children's boots and some say oh like it's only a pair of boots
00:29:14there's a difference even in like physically how many studs are in there etc but like why should
00:29:20women be have to make to go to the children's section to wear their boots whilst there's still
00:29:28a lot of work to be done as far as making sure that the women's game is invested in the same way
00:29:33as the men's and that all you know trying to trying to narrow the gaps between countries that have more
00:29:40countries that have less for their programs that you know we're far from done as far as as far as
00:29:45achieving some sort of equality in rugby however that said we've also never seen this much investment
00:29:51in the women's game we've never seen this many platforms delivering content for the women's game
00:29:56and we've also never before now I've never seen this many supporters wanting to consume that content
00:30:03and asking for it if it doesn't exist that's huge a huge change in women's rugby as a whole
00:30:08it's just about advertising role models showing different faces showing different body sizes
00:30:14body shapes different mindsets hi i'm zayna balima aka the bulldozer i'm a neonating nurse by
00:30:21profession and a rugby player by passion and i've won sunday times grass shoot sportsman of the year 2020
00:30:27and i love a cheeky al grey
00:30:36i've gotten to rugby at the age of 14 so i was at high school and my teacher said white girls going to do
00:30:42rugby today for the session and i was like yes bring it on so we had a rugby session and i absolutely
00:30:48fell in love like the moment i touched that rugby ball it was just like magic running through people
00:30:53running with the ball it was amazing
00:30:59i went into rugby because i loved it because i just enjoyed it and i got to you know it whole i just sort of
00:31:05took a step back and was like okay first of all where are all the other black girls second of all
00:31:12i'm the only muslim on my team where are the people that look like me you know and i felt really isolated
00:31:20so going to uni was it was a massive eye opener and it really showed me the reality of the kind of
00:31:26space that i'm in i felt like i didn't fit in especially in regards to the drinking aspect you
00:31:34know rugby is a very the culture of rugby alcohol is really big you know and uh being a muslim girl
00:31:42that doesn't drink i found myself really in awkward positions so there actually was a point in my rugby
00:31:50journey where i felt like i was actually after uni so having those experiences i thought i don't know
00:31:57if i want to go back to rugby
00:32:05i thought actually let me actually check in the rugby rule book to see if they actually allow women
00:32:11to wear hijab to wear their head scarf because my faith is a big part of me and my identity and i
00:32:17wanted to know if rugby you know accepted that so i went in a rule book just scanning through the
00:32:25section the laws about clothing it was there in black and white in the rugby rule book that i could
00:32:31wear head scarf and play rugby and that for me was like see like this is it like you belong in rugby
00:32:39this is rugby telling you you're welcome and i just took that and run with it and actually it showed in
00:32:45the way i play my confidence just spiked up like you got this
00:33:01there are so many people that would have automatically assumed that i wear a hijab i can't play rugby
00:33:07when that's not the case it's just sometimes you just need that little reminder that oh again like
00:33:13she can do it i can do it
00:33:21visibility is major absolutely major i think women in general when you have powerful role models
00:33:29if a young girl switching on the tv and sees you know another woman doing something they love
00:33:35that's representation that's visibility and through that you're going to get more people
00:33:41wanted to join sport and wanted to follow their passions
00:33:47change in perceptions i think it's a big one i've said to people i didn't feel like i belonged in
00:33:51rugby that's sort of my initial thoughts that perception we can't be having that you know but
00:33:56now i can confidently say as a black muslim woman i belong in rugby
00:34:01one thing that i think we're all starting to realize is that male allies can have such a huge impact on
00:34:11women's sport now allies in the women's game are hugely important and always welcome and like say a giant
00:34:18like ugo monja being a very active ally for the women's game is is huge because he's the kind of person no
00:34:28matter what he's talking about people sit up and listen so i'm hugo monja former rugby player here at
00:34:34harlequin's for 14 years also played for england and the british and arse lions it's not an understatement
00:34:40to say that that rugby changed my life and we don't have enough time to get into all those details but
00:34:46he genuinely did my daughters are four and one and a half and just about i hope that by the age when
00:34:52they're able to make their own decisions become teenagers and get exposed to lots of different
00:34:57sports that the route into whether it's rugby tennis football whatever it is i just hope to have a
00:35:03positive experience we have a great game but if there's anything i can do to help better it to help
00:35:11promote it to help get more visibility more eyes inspire people to get involved in it in any way then
00:35:18yeah i definitely want to be that guy
00:35:24it's easy to assume that only girls follow us but actually boys and men follow us too and it's
00:35:31becoming a bit more socially acceptable for men to come up to us and say congratulations i think
00:35:37sometimes they might feel a bit like oh it's a bit weird like following women's sport as a man
00:35:41but it's becoming a lot more normal thankfully
00:35:43the most important thing i would like any male associated with with sport or with rugby to know
00:35:51off the bat is that their voices are needed in this conversation
00:35:57i also think that the way the world works right now with the way our social media algorithms work
00:36:03for example a lot of people are existing in bubbles that never ever talk about or discuss women's rugby
00:36:10and i can shout as much as i want and they will never hear me if a male player or a male administrator
00:36:17or just a male who's who comes across this and understands the significance of it if they lend
00:36:22their voice to the conversation those are ripples in a completely different pond that i can't reach
00:36:29i don't think it's overly complicated but i do think because we live in this every time you speak out
00:36:35about something you awoke i think that tends to then be a barrier to men speaking out because they
00:36:41don't want to be called that i've been called it whatever like brush it off obviously i would never
00:36:47ask anybody to say anything that they didn't believe in i think it's important that the male voices
00:36:51that we hear in this conversation are genuine and that they they mean what they say because you
00:36:55know we don't need any more posturing in this community that's for sure but it's important to
00:36:59understand that not only do we welcome them into this conversation but we need them in order to reach
00:37:04places that we can't reach no matter how much we try so one person who's really helped me along
00:37:10this journey has been sue answers and she is a phenomenal human being she's also a foster nature
00:37:21and i love her relentless attitude she puts women's sport front and center of every agenda she's been a
00:37:30great ally to myself in order for me to hopefully be the best man ally i can for women's rugby she's a boss like
00:37:42how lovely oh it often surprises and slightly just points me that we don't see more professional
00:37:48footballers and rugby players and so on perhaps calling out the negativity we see on social media
00:37:53having someone retweets and content or a quote actually can be hugely powerful in terms of changing
00:37:59perceptions and and those men who are in that well respected positions actually can make a massive
00:38:04difference to women's sport i mean having so involved in the documentary was almost a no-brainer
00:38:09she needs no introduction she's an absolute powerhouse of women's sport and she really
00:38:14understands what has happened in other sports that can translate so well into rugby in terms of
00:38:20investment in women's sport i think in the past it's been a bit of a worthy something we ought to
00:38:24do it's the right thing to do and more and more sponsors are now seeing there's huge commercial value
00:38:30to being investing in women's sport and i think sometimes we feel that fans of women's sport are
00:38:35just women but it's not just women that watch women's sport men and women watch however there is
00:38:40also this opportunity to tap into a huge fan base that perhaps hasn't followed much sport in the past which
00:38:46is women and families and you know women make up 70 80 percent of decision making in terms of purchases
00:38:52that are made within the home so women are really powerful
00:38:59so semi-final week last session before the semi-final on saturday and we get the pleasure of training at
00:39:05the stoop tonight which is unusual for us but everyone loves being at the stoop all the time so it's good
00:39:12to get it'll be like a nice captain's run kind of feel to it and we'll know exactly what to
00:39:17expect come saturday hello look zach do you want to be on camera
00:39:25i've got the camera's filming me today you're on camera so this is the best thing about anyone
00:39:30coming to the suit you walk through the gate and you see my face let's get closer
00:39:37ready
00:39:43when i had more hair as well watch like this
00:39:53it's knockout stages so we win we have another week of of a game if we don't win that's it as our
00:39:58season done so there's a sort of a tenseness to the camp but at the same time you want it you want to be
00:40:03jove you you don't want to have too many big changes because actually what we've done throughout
00:40:08the season that has clearly worked because it's got us there in the first place so yes we're
00:40:12training for for saturday but also as long as we train well for saturday we then have another
00:40:17saturday on the hands which will be an even bigger game
00:40:32three three
00:40:47so
00:41:05so
00:41:15I want to be the best male ally I can be for the women's game.
00:41:42So, I'm listening, I'm learning, and I'm trying to do my bit, but it's important to ask people like you, who are at the forefront of the game, how can I help and how can other male allies really help support the women's game?
00:41:57I think the most basic form of help is just remembering that social media is the ultimate and retweeting stuff or just saying you're watching a game or even if you're not watching it, say where people can watch it.
00:42:09And talk about individual players and having conversations about rugby and interchanging both of them, swapping in players and not talking about necessarily the men's team or the women's team.
00:42:19It's just talking about rugby.
00:42:20And then when you get to the higher levels, people like yourself who are really in that rugby world is come and not only come and watch us play, but come and watch us train, come and have conversations with us.
00:42:31You'll learn so much about the good side of us and the team and the stories.
00:42:36So many people have full-time jobs.
00:42:38That's the best bit.
00:42:38Yeah, so many people have full-time jobs and you'll be surprised.
00:42:41Like someone's just finished a nine-hour shift and has come straight to training and you'll think, oh, why are these people late to meetings?
00:42:48This is disgraceful.
00:42:49Like you're players, you should be on time to meetings, but actually find out they've just got straight on the M25 after a nine-hour shift and they've had a chance to eat a sandwich on the way and they've got three minutes to get changed into being in a meeting.
00:43:00And you're like, oh, okay, maybe I understand why it's a bit more relaxed around timers and bits like that.
00:43:04I know for a fact that if I had to work a full-time job, nine-hour shifts and train, I would never have achieved the small things that I did within my career.
00:43:19There's just no way I wouldn't have been able to do the both.
00:43:24We know where the men's game's at.
00:43:27It's financially, it's a lot greater than the women's game.
00:43:31It's been professional for over 26 years, so some of the structures that we have within our game are deep-rooted and give us a great platform.
00:43:41But it's how you can use that platform to be able to amplify the other part of our game, which is the women's game.
00:43:48I know loads of lads who have little girls who might want to be rugby players.
00:43:53Think about them and just step up and just say something.
00:43:57Being inactive is, I just don't think, is an option anymore.
00:44:04So since we last spoken, I've decided to go on the journey.
00:44:09And that end goal is to play for England and essentially make history in being the first Muslim woman to play for England.
00:44:19I put this picture on social media and I just got people talking, like, would this be strange to see someone, you know, a Muslim woman, play for England?
00:44:29I was so scared to tell people because I was scared of what they would say.
00:44:33I'm currently at Barnes, but I'm moving to Richmond.
00:44:40So Richmond, to play at the championship, that's one above where I currently play for Barnes.
00:44:47Sometimes I do sit down and think, like, what have I done?
00:44:49Like, I've just told the world that I want to play for England.
00:44:51But I'm not putting pressure on myself, if I'm honest with you, and the impact that it's having.
00:44:55Just me saying I want to play for England, the impact that it's having is incredible.
00:44:59On my page, I have a tab called Support, and this is where I essentially store all of the messages of support on my social media.
00:45:11And it helps me get through, you know, when I'm feeling a bit down, when I feel a bit deflated, I go through the messages of people just being so lovely.
00:45:19For example, you know, people saying, get those reps in, that's all it is.
00:45:23That's Simi from Bristol Bears, she's a massive support.
00:45:26Just wanted to say, you are smashing it, keep doing what you're doing.
00:45:30Zee, you're looking in shape, girl, love it.
00:45:33Keep going, your journey is going to be something special, I can see it.
00:45:36Like, things like that is just awesome.
00:45:38I'm living for this journey, Zee.
00:45:40When you win, I feel like I win, keep grinding.
00:45:42Can you imagine someone telling you, like, they're winning because you're winning?
00:45:45Like, it's just, it's just, I can't even believe it.
00:45:50World Rugby, getting in there, saying, keep doing what you're doing.
00:45:54And you are an amazing inspiration to so many.
00:45:58So I've got the support of World Rugby.
00:46:03You know, with all the misogynistic comments on social media, the downside, I guess, of being a female athlete, where you get people just commenting and being really nasty.
00:46:13Can you imagine, like, if those comments, all of those comments were actually positive comments?
00:46:18It would make such a massive impact to just women's sport in general.
00:46:22That first cap I get, it's not for me.
00:46:25It's literally for everybody that ever didn't really fit in.
00:46:30Anyone that ever felt like they weren't good enough or they couldn't follow their dreams.
00:46:35So many odds, I guess, are against me in general.
00:46:37Not just for my identity, but just in general.
00:46:39And for me to get there, if I can do it, then anyone can.
00:46:43Like, anyone can.
00:46:46All of the women that play for England, they all inspire me, you know.
00:46:50Just to be rubbing shoulders with them would be absolutely amazing.
00:46:54It would be an absolute dream come true.
00:46:55In terms of the last year and the impact of COVID, I think at the beginning there was this huge fear that, well, women's sport did stop much faster than men's sport.
00:47:11There wasn't opportunity to play.
00:47:12There wasn't coverage.
00:47:14There was the worry that we would lose all that incredible momentum we built up over the last decade.
00:47:19But actually, it stimulated loads of conversation around women's sport and why it matters and funding and investments.
00:47:26If you looked at just the numbers, the size of the women's rugby market, how quickly it's grown over the last couple of years, how many people play.
00:47:34If you could pitch that to an investor without having the words women or rugby in it, if you just showed them the numbers, the market reach, the growth potential, anybody with any sense of business would invest in it.
00:47:44But the second that you add in women's rugby to it or women's sport, then you get all this hesitancy.
00:47:50And that's what I find really confusing because the numbers don't suggest that it's a bad investment.
00:47:54So if the numbers aren't what's bothering you, then it's the women's rugby's part that's bothering you.
00:47:59And then that's not a business thing.
00:48:00That's a sexism thing.
00:48:04Women's rugby and women's sport is a huge market with untapped growth potential.
00:48:09Nobody is taking full advantage of the market value of female players.
00:48:14Not even close.
00:48:14And the numbers in our games suggest that, at bare minimum, there's 2.4 million people who want to watch our games.
00:48:21So the fact that they're not being put out there in a huge way from a business perspective is very confusing.
00:48:26Summing up the Premier Final in a sentence, that's a task in itself.
00:48:34It's just emotional.
00:48:39Leading up to it, it was a build-up of emotion.
00:48:42And I almost felt like we should have sung the National Anthem first.
00:48:44It was that kind of, that's how much it meant to all of us.
00:48:47Fans were in, like, take it all in.
00:48:52For me, sport is about those moments and literally looking around the stadium
00:48:57and just seeing how many people that you're making happy that day.
00:49:00When that first whistle goes, that's it.
00:49:10We're at war.
00:49:11There's no...
00:49:12There is some smiling, but, you know, it's about what happens next
00:49:15and about continuing and sticking to what we've done for the whole year in training.
00:49:24Rachel Burford went down, I think, sort of about 12, 13 minutes in,
00:49:28and she rarely goes down.
00:49:29But if she does go down, nine out of ten times,
00:49:32she gets up, like, maybe fully strapped up,
00:49:34and actually she did get back up and it was like, oh, phew.
00:49:36But then she went down again, like, literally a few seconds later.
00:49:40And what turned out to be, like, what kept her off,
00:49:42not only for the whole game, but then out for a few months as well with surgery.
00:49:48She is an inspiration.
00:49:50I don't use it that often, that word, but she is an inspiration.
00:49:53It sort of took us...
00:49:54It took us by surprise, obviously, because it's an injury,
00:49:57but for it to happen so early, and it was a kind of emergency station,
00:50:01it's like, where do we go from here?
00:50:02After the semi-final, it was about 11.30 at night,
00:50:13the phone went,
00:50:14Eugen Monje, and it's like a two-and-a-half-minute voice note,
00:50:17and he just goes,
00:50:18so, I've watched the semi-final again,
00:50:20I've watched it a few times,
00:50:22and now I'm ready to give you analysis on it.
00:50:24And basically, you need to stop passing the ball.
00:50:26Yeah, all they need from you is to carry.
00:50:29And I'm like, right, this is Eugen Monje,
00:50:32England 7s and 15s, British and Irish Lion,
00:50:35he's telling me to carry.
00:50:36I'm just going to carry.
00:50:38I love it as well, so he's telling me to do it.
00:50:41Don't pass too much, just carry.
00:50:43That game was just about everyone doing their strengths
00:50:45and not trying to do too much fancy stuff
00:50:48and doing outside of that,
00:50:49because that's how we were going to win it,
00:50:51and that's how we did win.
00:50:52The final whistle went.
00:50:58I started crying instantly.
00:51:00Anyone and any, like, hugging everyone
00:51:02and anyone that'd come up to me.
00:51:03Our communications officer came over to us.
00:51:06He went, wait, you've just won Player of the Match,
00:51:08and I was like, oh!
00:51:09So I was all over again, like, more tears,
00:51:11and I was crying.
00:51:13As I walked over to that microphone,
00:51:14I didn't know that I was going to say that.
00:51:16I didn't, like, didn't plan it or anything.
00:51:19It's just, it's just the thoughts that are in my head
00:51:22all day, every day.
00:51:24Sean, a huge congratulations
00:51:26on the club's first ever Premier 15 title.
00:51:30You've done it on the third time of asking.
00:51:31What does that mean to you personally?
00:51:34Well, I'm crying, so it must have been a lot
00:51:36because I don't really cry.
00:51:38There's tears of happiness,
00:51:39and my mum's in the crowd,
00:51:41and she wasn't going to come,
00:51:42and I'm so glad that she did.
00:51:44Oh, Sean, it's lovely to see that emotion,
00:51:47and it's lovely to see how much it means,
00:51:48and I guess, you know, this club has walked away
00:51:51from two consecutive finals as runners-up,
00:51:53so does this mean even more because of that disappointment?
00:51:57Yeah, as they say, first, I'm lucky,
00:51:58but there was no luck involved in today at all.
00:52:00It's hard work all season.
00:52:02Last week, we thought we'd put on the performance
00:52:04of our season,
00:52:05but clearly we've come out and done it again,
00:52:07and so proud of everyone,
00:52:08and no individual should be singled out
00:52:11because we're such a team,
00:52:13and I can't wait to be with the girls again.
00:52:16What does this mean to you guys as players
00:52:18and the club as a whole?
00:52:20Like, this is not just about rugby.
00:52:22This is not just about the sport.
00:52:24It's about women, and it's about women's sport,
00:52:26and it's about putting us on a platform
00:52:27and knowing that we can do it,
00:52:29and we've come out and put an international standard
00:52:32of rugby in front of fans,
00:52:34and this is what rugby should be week in, week out.
00:52:37Men are women.
00:52:38Like, we're here,
00:52:39and I challenge anyone to say
00:52:40that women's rugby's not good enough
00:52:42and women are not good enough because we are.
00:52:45Speaking to some rugby girls I've not seen in a while,
00:52:48and she said,
00:52:49I'm so glad you said it,
00:52:51and it's everything I've ever wanted to say
00:52:54but just not had the guts to say it out loud,
00:52:56and I've never had so much attention,
00:52:58like, media attention, social media, my own phone.
00:53:01It just went crazy from that interview,
00:53:04and the amount of games I played for England.
00:53:06We've won three Grand Slams,
00:53:08and nobody cared about that as much
00:53:11as they cared about just a few sentences.
00:53:14To me, I just said at the end
00:53:15of a really good game of rugby,
00:53:17and the amount of grown men who said,
00:53:20I cried.
00:53:20You made me cry for the first time in 10 years.
00:53:23I was watching it,
00:53:23and my wife was like,
00:53:24what are you doing?
00:53:25Come and watch it,
00:53:27and then they all started crying.
00:53:32I was still in my head,
00:53:33and still, that's a kid from Peckham,
00:53:35just having a go at throwing an egg around
00:53:37on a bit of grass,
00:53:39but it's just that if I can make a change
00:53:41to their life just by being there
00:53:42or just by playing,
00:53:44like, that's my why.
00:53:45That's why I do it.
00:53:46Jack!
00:53:57Jack!
00:53:58Johnna!
00:54:01One, again.
00:54:03One, two, three.
00:54:05One more.
00:54:08One, two, three.
00:54:09Should we talk about the family group chat
00:54:13after the game?
00:54:15It's horrible.
00:54:16Um, I don't know.
00:54:17I got one sentence.
00:54:19Well done, Shauna.
00:54:20And that was it.
00:54:20And then we started talking about new potatoes.
00:54:23Who said well done?
00:54:24I did.
00:54:25I said well done, Shauna.
00:54:26And then Ella said,
00:54:27have you got any new potatoes, Les?
00:54:29We like to keep her down to earth, you know?
00:54:34Keep her feet firmly on the ground.
00:54:36She said, I just got a player of the match
00:54:36and we won the cup
00:54:37and you're worried about potatoes.
00:54:39I do get a lot of people saying to me,
00:54:40oh, you must be so proud, you know?
00:54:43Of course I am.
00:54:44You know, what more can I say?
00:54:45I am proud.
00:54:46I suppose other people see her very differently to me
00:54:48and it is, you know, like that,
00:54:50oh, you must be so proud.
00:54:51You know, she's achieved so much
00:54:53and yes, I'm proud.
00:54:54I'll be proud of her no matter what she done,
00:54:56but, you know, I'm very proud of her.
00:54:58But she's still Shauna.
00:55:00And she always will be.
00:55:03I like the way you spoke.
00:55:05You know, you were very...
00:55:07Passionate.
00:55:07Passionate, yeah.
00:55:09Controlled.
00:55:10Yeah.
00:55:10Controlled!
00:55:13As it is, Grand Theft Auto.
00:55:15I think the fact that she's doing it for women
00:55:17is the best thing
00:55:19because if it wasn't rugby,
00:55:21it may be something else
00:55:22because she's always been, like,
00:55:25doing jobs that women don't like,
00:55:27gas engineer, firefighter.
00:55:28So she's been like that for a long time
00:55:31and that inspiration,
00:55:33she just, she oozes it.
00:55:35You know, she just,
00:55:37if she just corrects me every time,
00:55:38if I refer to the dog as a he, she,
00:55:41or if I say,
00:55:42oh, where's the workman today?
00:55:45Who says it's a workman?
00:55:46It's not that it's on her mind all the time,
00:55:48but she is aware
00:55:49that women are equal to men,
00:55:53you know,
00:55:53so she reminds me of it
00:55:55every single day.
00:56:00How do you guys feel about the World Cup next year,
00:56:02the fact that it's postponed?
00:56:03Are you looking forward to it?
00:56:04You want to come watch?
00:56:06Hoping I'll be in the team.
00:56:07What are our thoughts?
00:56:09Well, I hope you're in the team
00:56:11because I intend going there.
00:56:12I think the achievement she would like
00:56:14at this moment in time in rugby
00:56:15is to play in the World Cup.
00:56:18Yeah, she would love to do that
00:56:20and I would love her to do that.
00:56:21If she could get into that team
00:56:22for the World Cup,
00:56:23that would be her sort of pinnacle
00:56:25of her career in rugby, I think.
00:56:26Never before in the history of women's rugby
00:56:37have we seen this many people
00:56:39willing to lend their voices to the discussion,
00:56:42willing to take on roles in growing the game
00:56:44and putting so much time into it.
00:56:46But also, you know,
00:56:48we've never seen this many people
00:56:49wanting to support the games,
00:56:51wanting to consume the content we put out.
00:56:52Across the decades,
00:56:54we've thought this is going to be the moment,
00:56:55but I really do feel it's now.
00:56:57I think just too much has happened
00:56:59across too many sports
00:57:01for us not to see this momentous growth keep going.
00:57:04And it's not just in terms of
00:57:06the visibility of women's sport,
00:57:07but also investment and funding
00:57:09and sponsorship and governance
00:57:10and women in key board roles
00:57:12and coaches and officials.
00:57:14It's women across sports.
00:57:15So I really do feel now is the time.
00:57:19It could make a massive difference
00:57:21to have a fully professional Allianz Premier 15s.
00:57:24We kind of celebrate these amazing female athletes
00:57:27that hold down three jobs
00:57:28and they're frontline NHS workers
00:57:30and that's all fine.
00:57:32But the only reason they're doing three jobs
00:57:34and also playing rugby
00:57:35is because they're not being paid
00:57:36to play professionally in the way that men are.
00:57:38Whilst it is amazing that they do all this,
00:57:40but they won't need to
00:57:42because they'll be able to be paid professionally
00:57:44to do the job.
00:57:45And then when they are,
00:57:46we'll just see the increase in standards of play,
00:57:48which we've already witnessed in the last five years.
00:57:51But when women can actually play full-time
00:57:53and they're not trying to work full-time
00:57:54and then train in the evening
00:57:55and, you know, play a couple of times a week,
00:57:57we'll see that increase in the quality of play
00:58:00equalising across the teams as well,
00:58:02so much more competition.
00:58:04There's been an enormous amount of momentum
00:58:05for women's game.
00:58:06Z is now a Canterbury ambassador.
00:58:09And I truly believe that there's something to do
00:58:11with the movements that we've had
00:58:12over the last few years.
00:58:14But now we've got to make sure
00:58:15that we carry the momentum we have forwards with us.
00:58:18We keep our voices heard
00:58:20and we make sure that that doesn't change.
00:58:22You can tweet about it.
00:58:24You can celebrate their moments.
00:58:26You can celebrate their victories.
00:58:28You can point people in the direction
00:58:29of where they can watch it.
00:58:31That's the simple thing,
00:58:32which takes not a lot of time.
00:58:34It certainly doesn't cost any money.
00:58:36Connect to them.
00:58:37Talk to them.
00:58:38Show them some love.
00:58:38Show them some support.
00:58:40The more that you can watch and like and support
00:58:42and talk about in a public way,
00:58:44the content relating to women's rugby
00:58:46and to teams you're like,
00:58:48that's a bigger action than you might realize.
00:58:50And it has knock-on effects
00:58:52in a number of different ways.
00:58:53But it helps people that are looking at our sport
00:58:55from an investment perspective.
00:58:57It helps them believe that it matters to other people.
00:59:02There are moments where it's really difficult.
00:59:04And there are definitely times that you're so tired,
00:59:07you don't, you struggle to find a reason
00:59:09why you're doing all this.
00:59:10And in those moments,
00:59:12I think a lot about the concept of leaving the jersey
00:59:14better than you found it for the next generation.
00:59:17Like I grew up not ever thinking
00:59:19that there would be any professional women's sports
00:59:23in any capacity, much less for rugby.
00:59:25There are so many young girls watching our games,
00:59:27following us on social media,
00:59:29who are going to grow up knowing
00:59:30that this is a possibility for them
00:59:31and knowing that this is something that they could do
00:59:33and they could make a career out of.
00:59:34And that's like what keeps me going
00:59:37when I'm struggling to find a reason to,
00:59:39I think, is the hope that what I'm doing
00:59:41is going to make things better for the next generation.
00:59:45It's got to come in investment.
00:59:47And investment is the word it is.
00:59:49It's not throwing money at a situation
00:59:51or throwing money down a drain.
00:59:53It's an investment.
00:59:54And in so many financial situations in life,
00:59:58when you invest in,
01:00:00whether it's a product or a service or a person
01:00:02or property,
01:00:05you don't get your money back straight away.
01:00:07You don't get your money back in five or 10 years.
01:00:10You get your money back in the 20, 25 years plus slot.
01:00:13So it's about companies now realizing
01:00:15that it's a good time to invest in women's rugby
01:00:19and accept that they're not going to get their returns
01:00:22anytime soon.
01:00:23But number one, it's the right thing to do.
01:00:26And number two, they will get it.
01:00:27It will be in 25 years
01:00:31when we are fully professional
01:00:33as a sport, as a Premier 15s,
01:00:37that people will look back and go,
01:00:39oh, I'm so glad that this company
01:00:42put the money in at this point
01:00:43because that's now the reason
01:00:45the game is so good.
01:00:46If you put your money where your mouth is,
01:00:53us as women
01:00:53will show you
01:00:56we are worthy
01:00:57as we always do.
01:01:00A mic drop.
01:01:01I can do the snappy thing now.
01:01:22Take one.
01:01:23Oh, technical stuff.
01:01:26I don't get the clicky board.
01:01:28The only reason I ever did this documentary
01:01:30is just to be the person that goes...
01:01:32But no, I'm not.
01:01:34So...
01:01:34Oh, it is recording.
01:01:44Oh, it is recording.
01:02:00Oh, it is recording.
01:02:02Oh, it is recording.
01:02:03So...
01:02:05Oh, it is recording.
01:02:06The only reason I ever did this documentary
01:02:10is just to know some of the different colors
01:02:14that I did that place
01:02:15ever made to the
01:02:25Just a paper turn, go to a...
01:02:32In a real-open unicorn
01:02:39G.I. Joe riding a unicorn
01:02:46It was that way since she was gone
01:02:49It was that way since she was gone
01:03:00I had to pass you on the back of one that's holding you back
01:03:04Close to my Beyoncé bit
01:03:07G.I. Joe riding a unicorn
01:03:10C.I. Joe riding a unicorn
01:03:12C.I. Joe riding a unicorn
01:03:16She dancing like a beautiful girl
01:03:19It's an awesome daughter
01:03:21G.I. Joe riding a unicorn
01:03:23G.I. Joe riding a unicorn
01:03:26Yeah, she seen all before
01:03:29In a systemic way
01:03:32And if I better make me notice
01:03:36And every star in the chorus
01:03:40You'll see me break me past the line
01:03:43Cause that's just the way we play
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