Dear Touchline,

Question...
In which year did an English Premiership club provide 23 players to represent 10 countries in the World Cup?

Answer…
Richmond Women’s RFC in the 2002 Women’s World Cup.  A fact worthy of mention on ‘The Rugby Club’, in the broadsheets or perhaps even on ‘A Question of Sport’, you might think.  Alas, this and many other great achievements seldom make the press, leaving clubs to search for other outlets for publicity.  For Richmond’s international “celebrities” an opportunity for prime time live coverage comes not in the form of ‘Grandstand’ or ‘A Question of Sport’, instead they must prove themselves not to be ‘The Weakest Link.’  

Richmond has put forward 15 players to appear on the show.  Not because we feel the need to be humiliated, but simply because our game needs the publicity.  Research shows the importance of media coverage to the development of women’s and girl’s sport. As a club, we think that if one potential player watching the show realises that women play rugby and as a direct result opts for the rugby option at school or their local club, then the pain of Anne Robinson will all have been worth it.

However, it’s a far cry from appearing in front of a 75,000 crowd at Twickers.  With the tagline ‘The Home of England Rugby’, why must our female internationals play at club grounds, while their male counterparts strut their stuff at Twickenham? In an era when we are trying to retain players, why are 51% of the population isolated? So the question for the RFU is - when will it stop being ‘The Weakest Link’ and start becoming ‘Family Fortunes’?

Sam Wilson
Richmond