By Rachel Gore
Under two weeks after the beginning of the 2024 Women’s Six Nations, World Rugby has had to make a formal apology for "misogynistic" coaching framework that they published on the World Rugby website.
The coaching framework, derived from a 2006 literature review, listed outdated gender stereotypes across six main areas, from how men and women differ in intellectual function to how they react to stress. The coaching framework suggested that men adopt a "flight or fight" approach to stress, whilst women supposedly tend to have a "tend and befriend" strategy. Additionally, it outlined survival mechanisms, attributing men to "self-interest, hierarchy, and power" and women to "relationships, empathy, and connections."
In addition, these outlines cited a 2012 book by Jane Cunningham and Philippa Roberts titled “Inside Her Pretty Little Head: A New Theory of Female Motivation and What It Means for Marketing". Questions have been raised about why this book, which is over a decade old and
focuses on consumerism and marketing, has been used to help create rugby
coaching guidelines.
The release of this guidance sparked widespread backlash on social media. Alice Soper, a rugby coach in New Zealand and member of the country’s strategic advisory group for Women in Rugby, described the guidance as “misogynistic” and creating harmful stereotypes of girls. Soper added that she coaches all genders the same way, the only difference being that when she coaches women and girls she is “honest that [they] are navigating a system that was never designed for them and will require a higher level of resilience to succeed”.
World Rugby issues grovelling apology for ‘misogynistic’ guidelines on how to coach women
✍️ @fi_tomas_#TelegraphWomensSport— Telegraph Women’s Sport (@WomensSport) April 4, 2024
The guidelines from World Rugby also included the idea that men had a survival strategy of “self-interest, hierarchy, power and competition” while women’s strategy is through “relationships and empathy”.
The coaching framework was developed by esteemed rugby personalities, including former All Blacks assistant coach Wayne Smith and women's rugby pioneer Carol Isherwood, among others. However, it remains uncertain whether these individuals had reviewed the framework before its public release.
World Rugby swiftly addressed the issue, with a spokesperson telling Telegraph Sport: “Unfortunately, last week a women and girls coaching framework was published on World Rugby’s Passport technical resource site containing language that does not reflect the international federation’s values and known commitment to gender equality."
“While quickly spotted and removed, reference to third party analysis within the resource outlining considerations for coaching the men’s and women’s games should not have been included, and we are deeply apologetic that this was published. World Rugby is passionate about advancing women and girls in rugby as a core pillar of its strategic plan to grow the game and we will work harder to ensure that this does not happen again. We would like to apologise to all who may have been offended.”
The coaching guidance has been replaced with a 'Coaching Women and Girls' module designed to promote coaching techniques aimed at attracting and retaining greater numbers of females in the sport.
