Create a new flock of willing female props

I have noticed a distinct shift in attitudes towards playing in the front row from my female players.

In women’s rugby, it is much more common for athletes to come to the game later than childhood.

Therefore, the conversation about positions needs to be navigated more carefully, because the preconceptions are more pronounced.

Props are still all-round players

At the start of this season, I had players tell me they wanted to transition away from prop to back row.

Upon asking them why, their response was usually along the lines of: “I want to be able to use my speed around the park”.

My comeback was: "Is something actively stopping you from doing that now?”. They would look down and admit that there wasn’t.

So, what are the key sticking points?

Role models
Since men’s rugby is more accessible via television right now, female players have no option but to map themselves against that model of prop.

This can be an extreme; seeing those impacts in the men’s game, and the consequential injuries, could be putting them off.

Being under-prepared
Players have come to me from other clubs saying they were persuaded to play prop, but didn’t feel like they were adequately trained to do so.

They then played and got hurt, or were dominated. Understandably, they are now nervous about that position.

Solutions to the above

We need to empower girls so they are willing to play in the front row with personal motivation.

"You are highly valued"
Taking a different route from the obvious statements around body profiles.

I would tell players that being a front-row specialist makes you an essential part of the team. If they didn’t exist, or if we had to place an untrained player in their spot, then uncontested scrums would change the game’s profile.

"You are key ball player"
A front-row specialist who can add high-level skills, like quick hands and ball transfer, will become one of the most valuable tools on the pitch.

Now, imagine empowering them to be technically skilful and add layers of speed, strength and power endurance.

"We will support you"
We also need to make sure our training of set pieces is broken down to its safest form in terms of techniques.

Alongside this, we should strive to coach players on how to problem-solve scrummaging for themselves, so that they can start conversations with us on how to win their front-row battles.

Conclusion

Empowerment and intrinsic motivation are going to be a massive part of our collective success in creating a desire to play prop that matches the need the sport has.

We, as coaches, have the chance to action this during the 2025 World Cup, which is set to put the best female front-rowers in the world in the spotlight and create new role models.