The campaign against the proposals to split the RBS Women's Rugby Six Nations into a two tier tournament has been successful after rugby bosses on the Six Nations Council decided to retain the tournament's current structure.

 

The All Party Parliamentary Group on Women's Sport (co-chaired by Baroness (Tanni) Grey-Thompson and Barbara Keeley MP), and the Women's Sport and Fitness Foundation wrote to the CEOs of the English, Welsh, Scottish and Irish rugby unions last week asking them to reject the reported proposals, and twitter campaigns had further demonstrated the anger against the proposals felt by the players at all levels of the sport.

 

Commenting, Co-Chair of the APPG on Women's Sport and Fitness, Barbara Keeley MP said:

"This is a great decision which safeguards the Six Nations as the biggest annual tournament in women's rugby. Downgrading the tournament would have been a  blow both to the players and to all of the young women who grow up dreaming of representing their country at a national level. All those who spoke up against the proposals should be proud of what they achieved and we thank the members of the Six Nations Council for making what we feel is the right decision."

 

Chief Executive of the Women's Sport and Fitness Foundation, Sue Tibballs said:

"We are obviously delighted that the RBS Six Nations tournament can now continue to provide the exhilarating and entertaining rugby which is helping to establish its place in the hearts of sports fans. While we thank the Six Nations Council for making the right decision today, it is very concerning that the proposal even got this far. It is a sign that despite the progress women's sport made during the Olympic and Paralympics last year, many women's tournaments are vulnerable and there is still work to be done to ensure their potential is maximised." 

A full copy of the letter is available here

 

For more information, please call the Women's Sport and Fitness Foundation at [email protected]