D'Arcy Waldegrave: Women's rugby - good things take time - The All Sport Breakfast

Women’s rugby is not unlike the cheese TV commercials. Good things take time.  

Last weekend's Super Rugby Aupiki final between the Blues wāhine and Matatu was a great game to watch. It put an exclamation mark on what was a rollicking tournament. The match reflected the strides the women’s game has taken since the inception of Aupiki. 

The crowd at Eden Park didn’t rock any foundations but the TV viewer numbers were impressive. 405,000 folk tuned in to watch the best female footballers in the country duke it out and match worthy of their eyeballs was rolled out. 

On Thursday night, in atrocious conditions, the Blues laid waste to the Waratahs in the Women’s Super Rugby Champions Final. Again, bugger all in the way of people in the stands (the weather was toxic) and I have no TV numbers, but I’d hazard a guess they would be healthy figures for a Thursday night game that sneaked up on people. Still, it was on, and it was worth a look.  

The women’s game is having a growth spurt, and this needs to be appreciated and fostered as the men’s game has essentially had a multi-generational head start.  

The game is played differently to the men's version, not unlike the cricketing gender split. It’s not better, nor worse, just different. For those hell bent on direct comparison, I have nothing. A frozen and archaic mindset is not worth fighting against, these people can’t or won’t accept the turning wheels of time, good luck to them.  

The top level of domestic women’s rugby is still in an embryonic stage, to judge it based on crowd numbers alone is manifestly unfair, not forgetting how few people turn up to the men’s Super Rugby exchanges on a regular basis.   

With further investment the game will exponentially grow. Let’s not forget that New Zealand rugby’s money, regardless of where it comes from, is not just for the All Blacks. It is for the entire game from the grass roots up. NZR has a responsibility to uphold the development of the game across the board. It’s our national game, not just a platform for the men in black.  

Water the dirt and flowers last for you.   

Good things take time.  

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