Tackling Misogyny in Sports: Let’s Talk about Women’s Rugby

Illustration by Grace McKenna

When I arrived at Edinburgh’s Hive stadium for my first Women’s Six Nations match, I couldn’t help but notice the much larger, in fact, Scotland’s largest stadium, Murrayfield next to it. With a seating capacity of almost 70,000, Murrayfield is home to Scottish rugby. Spectators like myself walk beneath Duhan Van Der Merwe and Finn Russell as their swerves, dives, and tries are immortalised in larger-than-life posters. The Hive seats just under 8000. As I took my seat under the shadow of Murrayfield, the difference between the two venues was glaringly obvious. It left me wondering: why does women’s rugby still feel so marginal compared to the men’s game? I, of course, already knew the answer. It is because the players are women. And female sport still makes people uncomfortable. 

Misogyny is not the only reason female rugby exists at the peripheries of British sport. The men’s game has a long history. It is said the sport of rugby was created in 1823, when a precocious young boy decided to pick up the ball he and his friends were kicking about. The spectacular displays of hypermasculine strength have delighted audiences across the world since. They are the modern equivalent of gladiatorial arenas, only now with medical teams on standby, accustomed to resetting dislocated bones. Rugby, however, is not all gore. Its camaraderie has endeared thousands to one of the roughest games in the sporting world. It is hard to watch the Haka, an indigenous dance the New Zealand All Blacks perform ahead of each of their matches, without feeling deeply humbled and unexpectedly sentimental. Rugby, male rugby, is therefore more likely to receive funding and media coverage. This likely reflects purism rather than bigotry. 

However, rugby’s androcentric tendencies are nonetheless disturbing and need to be interrogated. 

Recently, women’s football has experienced a meteoric rise in popularity, while Britain’s recent Olympic medal table was dominated by female athletes. Some may argue that the general uninterest in women’s rugby is therefore not a gendered issue. Perhaps the public finds rugby gameplay all too confusing? It is difficult to accept this explanation if you have ever attempted to walk down Princes Street on a match day or tried to get a seat in your local pub where a projector has been haphazardly set up in the corner. Rugby is very popular. What, then, denies female rugby players of the popularity enjoyed by their male counterparts and by other female athletes? While female athletes all undoubtedly experience their own barriers, it is women rugby players’ typically larger bodies that present their own unique issues.  

It would be too far to say the rise of antifeminist incel communities on social media and the rampant misuse of the weight-loss drug ‘Ozempic’ have directly limited society’s appetite for women’s rugby. Women’s rugby, after all, has been ignored for years. But one quick scroll through the #womensrugby on TikTok confirmed my speculations: that the darker side of social media is intensifying the opposition to muscular women in sport. One user writes “rugby is for MEN”. Ilona Maher, an American rugby union player, posted a video that described the bullying she has experienced as a larger female athlete. She says “they”, referring to trolls, “think that women should be fragile and petite, and quiet and meek”. Clearly, some fans still perceive rugby as a space that should exclude women. They cannot fathom why a woman would be interested in the game or play as well as a man. Mostly, they are uncomfortable with how players like Maher disrupt gender norms. 

However, as I watched the Scottish team deliver an impressive offensive on Wales, I was not pessimistic about the future of women’s rugby. Despite some empty seats and a mist of rain descending across the field during its second half, the crowd’s enthusiasm was intoxicating and unwavering. People of all ages had gathered at Hive that afternoon. Middle-aged men, couples, and families. It was the noticeable amount of cheering 20-something-year-old women that struck me most. I was also watching with two of my closest friends. Women’s rugby is being proudly embraced by my generation of young women. And our presence in the stands is reason to be hopeful. 

Ilona Maher is one of the main reasons that more women are supporting rugby. Maher is a formidable player who has taken British rugby by storm after signing with Bristol Bears this year. Maher previously went viral after competing in the American reality television series Dancing with the Stars, where her charismatic personality and vulnerability resonated with audiences. Just short of six foot and weighing 90kg, Maher was the first contestant in the show’s history to lift her male partner. She also unapologetically embraced her womanhood dancing to feminist and queer music icons like Shania Twain and Chappell Roan.  

Maher’s outspoken body positivity may not have won her the trophy, but it won her a fleet of adoring fans, most of whom knew nothing about rugby beforehand. Since she signed with Bristol Bears, women’s attendance at their games has increased by 103% and their largest demographic of ticketholders are now women aged 20 to 35. Young girls and women absolutely adore her. One TikTok user commented on her video addressing online trolling, “you help me feel better about being a broad shouldered 6ft woman who takes up space. Thank you for showing up”. For every negative comment disparaging Maher’s body or ability, there are ten others describing how she has inspired them. Clearly, my hope is not unfounded.   

As my afternoon at Hive stadium came to an end, the future of women’s rugby was looking bright. England’s Red Roses are expected to take their seventh win in a row this year at the Six Nations. Ireland, Scotland, and France, however, have all performed well in the last year. It looks like the tournament will be charged with ambition and full of surprises.  

It is the sad truth that fewer pubs will be showing these games, and less people will don their team’s colours over the coming weekends. My friends who play rugby on behalf of their universities continue to find their pitches double-booked and their budgets cut, complaining of the male referees seemingly uninterested in taking their games seriously. But they are all optimistic. Thanks to women like Ilona Maher, I would like to think the flood of female rugby fans will soon overflow the smaller stadiums women’s teams are currently confined to. 

The 2025 Women’s Six Nations will be shown on BBC Two and streamed on the BBC iPlayer. The Women’s Rugby World Cup starts this August.  

Will you be watching?