the other match of the Bleues, in search of benefits for their sport

Of course, the figures of the day, in the country of rugby, make you want: Saturday, October 8 morning, the legendary Eden Park stadium in Auckland (New Zealand) posted more than 40,000 tickets sold, while the Blue of Thomas Darracq won Saturday 40-5 against South Africa in their first match of the World Cup. Unheard of for a women’s sports match in New Zealand. A record also for women’s rugby around the world, a sign that things are moving in the right direction.

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This is a pivotal moment, underlines the Montpellier Safi N’Diaye, who, at 34, is playing her third World Cup. “It’s events like this that will change women’s sport and women’s rugby, rejoices the player. We are lucky to be broadcast on TV. We know how, for example, the 2014 or 2017 World Cups caused a real jump in the number of members of the Federation. In ten years, we have seen a huge evolution!”

At the start of the season, the number of female license holders is still on the rise in France: +19% compared to last season, indicates the French Federation. And if ten years ago, there were 11,000 female practitioners, today there are more than 28,000. That’s huge, but in fact, it’s still ten times fewer girls than boys who play to rugby. So, the Blues feel invested with a mission during this World Cup: to have results to seduce and arouse even more vocations. Change the looks too, explains the back Jessy Trémoulière, best player in the world in 2018. “I put myself in the place of a little girl who is six or seven years old, she explains. It’s a bit complicated in the family since rugby, ‘it’s not not made for girls’: unfortunately, we still hear these words a little.”

“Our role is to show families a good image, that it’s not dangerous, that it’s not violent, that rugby is made for women, that we can offer a good game. We has a role to play in that.”

Jessy Tremouliere

at franceinfo

And who says more visibility also says the arrival of new sponsors, essential for the professionalization of women’s rugby, adds the captain of the XV of France, Gaëlle Hermet. “The sponsors are starting to come and be attracted to the playersshe notes. I think we’ve turned a corner on this media craze, on the image that female practice sends back. And suddenly, it is up to us to continue to promote it as best as possible.

Because today, if around forty players from the French team benefit from 75% federal contracts, the French women’s championship is still amateur with players who combine studies, employment and training, sometimes giving rise to confrontations. very unbalanced between the teams and considerably hampering the media coverage of women’s rugby outside of international matches.