WRU to offer first professional 15-a-side contracts to women

Wales Women will compete at next year's Rugby World Cup in New Zealand

The Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) is set to offer some of its female internationals their first professional contracts.

The 12 month contracts are currently being draw up, the amount currently undisclosed, and they are set to be in place from 1 January, 2022.

There will also be match and training fees for the women.

• Rugby World Cup: Where are Wales Women, one year out?

The announcement comes after the WRU's new performance director Nigel Walker openly admitted the governing body had not "covered itself in glory" in how it managed the women's game in the past.

There have long been calls for the WRU to do more to support the women's game and calls to introduce contracts were strengthened when Wales' global rugby sevens star Jasmine Joyce tweeted she would have to return to work in December when her funding runs out.

Today's announcement sees the WRU follow in the footsteps of the Rugby Football Union in England, which awarded some of its 15-a-side female players their first professional deals in 2016.

Five years on, the Red Roses are ranked number one in the world and backed up that title with a 43-12 demolition of New Zealand at Sandy Park on Sunday.

The contracts in Wales will be offered to the players who the coaches believe have the most potential ahead of next year's Rugby World Cup in New Zealand.

Walker said: "We are committed to making the women's programme one of the best in the world and this announcement is a first, but major step in the right direction.

"The players have had a key role to play in this process to date and we feel this is the best way to make real gains on the world stage in the short and longer term."

Wales' coaching team L-R: Sophie Spence, Richard Whiffin, Ioan Cunningham and Geraint Lewis

Wales are currently on a two-year losing streak, but head coach Ioan Cunningham believes the contracts will make a "huge difference" to how competitive they can be at the World Cup.

"We will be able to go from catching up with players at weekend training camps and one midweek session to training up to four times a week. We will be able to develop individual performance plans for the players to manage and maximise their potential," he said.

Wales captain Siwan Lillicrap added: "It will allow some of our players to commit to being professional athletes and also take charge of certain tasks on behalf of the team, for example around analysis, and others to make decisions around their personal circumstances that will allow them to train and recover in a more manageable way."

Walker also addressed the lack of performance pathways for women in Wales.

In April this year, 123 former Wales players wrote a scathing joint letter to WRU chief executive Steve Phillips pointing out the inequalities in game.

"Your systematic dismantling of the age-grade and development pathways contributes significantly to the failures of the women's game in Wales today," it said.

• Former Wales women players say 'enough is enough'

It resulted in a 4,000 signature petition to bring back Wales' female age-grade and regional teams.

"We are working hard behind the scenes on steps to make sure we have a robust player pathway to underpin the top level," said Walker.

"We are in the process of recruiting a head of age grade (male and female) along with coaches to run U18 and U20 sides for both the male and female game, and establishing the best competition structure to develop those players."