Women's Rugby World Cup to offer players mental health support
Image: John Cowpland/AFP
Women's Rugby World Cup chiefs have promised to offer players "mental health support" after saying female athletes are "30 percent more likely" to suffer social media abuse than their male counterparts.
While the likes of tournament hosts England are a professional side who have become used to increasing scrutiny, several of the other 15 competing teams are semi-professional or amateur outfits for whom the World Cup will provide a whole new level of exposure.
"Supporting athletes, having an athlete-centred approach, I think, is fundamental to everything that the competition is doing and that we are doing at World Rugby," said Sally Horrox, the global governing body's head of women's rugby.
"So our performance teams have been working very closely on programmes with the unions to make sure that there is mental health support, for example, for those athletes who are away from home.
Get your news on the go, click
here to join the IOL News WhatsApp channel.
"Some of them have families, some of them have other jobs. The game in many parts of the world is still an amateur to semi-professional game, so they will be experiencing something very, very different.
"So we take our responsibilities very seriously."
Tournament organisers said Tuesday they expected the September 27 final at Twickenham to feature a sell-out crowd of over 80,000 – a record for any women's rugby match.
More than 375,000 tickets have been sold across all 32 matches at this World Cup, with a huge global television audience anticipated as well.
"We're ready to break records in attendances, viewership and engagement," tournament director Sarah Massey said during Tuesday's launch event at Twickenham.
"This is going to be the biggest global celebration of women's rugby that we have ever seen."
But with that opportunity come attendant risks and World Rugby, in April, announced a collaboration with the Signify Group to use the data organisation's 'Threat Matrix' that monitors social media platforms to detect and report abusive posts and comments.
"No one deserves that type of abuse in this environment," said Horrox. "And sadly, female athletes, are 30 percent more likely to experience this type of abuse than men."
World Cup favourites England open the tournament against the United States in the northeast city of Sunderland on Friday, with the Americans boasting a breakout social media star in Ilona Maher, who has amassed over eight million followers.
AFP
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Star
4 hours ago
- The Star
Nasreddine Nabi set to return to lead Kaizer Chiefs against Mamelodi Sundowns
Lunga Biyela | Published 7 hours ago Nasreddine Nabi will be back in the dugout for Kaizer Chiefs' big Betway Premiership clash against Mamelodi Sundowns at FNB Stadium next week Wednesday. Nabi has been back home in Tunisia for the last two weeks to be with his wife who was involved in a car accident. In his time away, the club have started the new campaign in impressive fashion and currently sit second in the league after three wins from a many games. While there has been speculation that his time at the club is fast running out, assistant coach Khalil Ben Youssef confirmed Nabi's imminent return, saying: 'Coach Nabi will be with us this week, to prepare for the game against Sundowns,' Last week, Soccer Laduma reported that following a meeting between the club and coach Nabi earlier this month, relations between the two parties have soured. Get your news on the go, click here to join the IOL News WhatsApp channel. According to the report, Chiefs' management expressed dissatisfaction with the team's performance following the pre-season tour in the Netherlands and the defeat to Asante Kotoko in the Toyota Cup. In Nabi' absence, Youssef stepped in to lead the team. With him in the dugout this season, Chiefs have maintained a 100% winning record, leading many to speculate that he could be seen as the perfect replacement should the club decide to change coaches. For now, Amakhosi's faithful will watch closely as events unfold , aware that the next few weeks could shape the club's trajectory for the rest of the season. IOL Sport Get your news on the go, click here to join the IOL News WhatsApp channel.
IOL News
6 hours ago
- IOL News
Women's Rugby World Cup to offer players mental health support
The Rugby World Cup trophy on display at the 2021 tournament, which was hosted in New Zealand in 2022. Photo: John Cowpland/AFP Image: John Cowpland/AFP Women's Rugby World Cup chiefs have promised to offer players "mental health support" after saying female athletes are "30 percent more likely" to suffer social media abuse than their male counterparts. While the likes of tournament hosts England are a professional side who have become used to increasing scrutiny, several of the other 15 competing teams are semi-professional or amateur outfits for whom the World Cup will provide a whole new level of exposure. "Supporting athletes, having an athlete-centred approach, I think, is fundamental to everything that the competition is doing and that we are doing at World Rugby," said Sally Horrox, the global governing body's head of women's rugby. "So our performance teams have been working very closely on programmes with the unions to make sure that there is mental health support, for example, for those athletes who are away from home. Get your news on the go, click here to join the IOL News WhatsApp channel. "Some of them have families, some of them have other jobs. The game in many parts of the world is still an amateur to semi-professional game, so they will be experiencing something very, very different. "So we take our responsibilities very seriously." Tournament organisers said Tuesday they expected the September 27 final at Twickenham to feature a sell-out crowd of over 80,000 – a record for any women's rugby match. More than 375,000 tickets have been sold across all 32 matches at this World Cup, with a huge global television audience anticipated as well. "We're ready to break records in attendances, viewership and engagement," tournament director Sarah Massey said during Tuesday's launch event at Twickenham. "This is going to be the biggest global celebration of women's rugby that we have ever seen." But with that opportunity come attendant risks and World Rugby, in April, announced a collaboration with the Signify Group to use the data organisation's 'Threat Matrix' that monitors social media platforms to detect and report abusive posts and comments. "No one deserves that type of abuse in this environment," said Horrox. "And sadly, female athletes, are 30 percent more likely to experience this type of abuse than men." World Cup favourites England open the tournament against the United States in the northeast city of Sunderland on Friday, with the Americans boasting a breakout social media star in Ilona Maher, who has amassed over eight million followers. AFP
The South African
7 hours ago
- The South African
Springboks' major positional problem emerges
When it comes to the Springboks, one area where there has always been a seemingly never-ending conveyor belt of talent is at loose forward. However, in recent times, some warning lights have begun to flash. Since the 2023 World Cup, and the retirement of Duane Vermeulen, the Springboks have found the No 8 position to be somewhat problematic to fill with consistency. Yes, Jasper Wiese has emerged as a standout in this position, but ill-discipline and injuries have taken a toll, and it's an area where depth – and a like-for-like replacement for Vermeulen – has been hard to come by. At blindside flank, the Springboks have had the world-class Pieter-Steph du Toit to rely on, but again, the lack of true quality back up has been evidenced by someone like Franco Mostert having to again fill in on the side of the scrum. Similarly, Siya Kolisi is the understandable custodian of the No 6 jersey – but in his absence – it's still not crystal clear as to who the next best would be. As if to evidence this point, the Springboks will line up for this Saturday's must-win match against the Wallasbies with a back row combination that would have been virtually unfathomable just a few weeks ago: 8 Jean-Luc du Preez, 7 Franco Mostert, 6 Marco van Staden. Yes, the Springboks have been unfortunate with injuries to talented youngsters Elrigh Louw and Cameron Hanekom, but when it comes to the back row balance and depth, it's increasingly evident that this is a worrisome area just two years away from the next World Cup. The goal of Rassie Erasmus and the coaches is to have two players of almost equal interchangeable quality in every position, but it's in the loose trio where this is proving to be increasingly difficult to find after the retirement of Vermeulen, and as Du Toit and Kolisi head towards their mid-30s. South Africa: 15 Willie le Roux, 14 Canan Moodie, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Cheslin Kolbe, 10 Handre Pollard, 9 Grant Williams, 8 Jean-Luc du Preez, 7 Franco Mostert, 6 Marco van Staden, 5 Ruan Nortje, 4 RG Snyman,3 Thomas du Toit, 2 Malcolm Marx, 1 Ox Nche. Replacements: 16 Marnus van der Merwe, 17 Boan Venter, 18 Wilco Louw, 19 Eben Etzebeth, 20 Lood de Jager, 21 Kwagga Smith, 22 Cobus Reinach, 23 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu Let us know by leaving a comment below, or send a WhatsApp to 060 011 0211. Subscribe to The South African website's newsletters and follow us on WhatsApp, Facebook, X and Bluesky for the latest news.
