Scrum Queens: Four friends and one outrageous idea

BBC News

17 hours ago

Watch: Scrum Queens: The Fight for the First World Cup on BBC One Wales at 22:40 BST on Thursday, 21 August and available on demand here after transmission.
Thirty five years ago, four friends shared one ambitious vision.Deborah Griffin, Alice Cooper, Sue Dorrington and Mary Forsyth wanted to stage a Rugby World Cup for women.They had no money, nowhere to stage it and no support, with the sport's governing body wanting nothing to do with them.But these pioneering women were not to be underestimated. In the face of rejection and misogyny, their grit and determination saw the first women's global tournament come to fruition in Wales in 1991.Tackling the tournament took its toll though, with the women paying a huge personal cost.But the rugby revolution they started in Cardiff is now a global phenomenon, with 16 teams preparing to kick off the biggest edition of the World Cup so far this weekend.
The Richmond four
American ex-pats Forsyth and Dorrington met Griffin and Cooper while playing for Richmond RFC, and it was there where the idea to stage a women's World Cup was born.While they were filled with passion and excitement, it soon became apparent that they would have to organise it themselves."Debs and I went down to the IRB (International Rugby Board) base in Bristol to talk to them about supporting the tournament," said Dorrington."I remember going into this very big boardroom with a very large wooden table, we talked them through our plans and it was a very short meeting and we left. They wanted nothing to do with us."The financial, commercial, logistical and public relations duties were shared out between the four women, who also had to juggle full-time employment."We were all in our late 20s, early 30s, didn't have huge experience of doing anything like this," recalled Griffin."We used to meet up at eight o'clock and divvy up the tasks that had to be done and then go off to work afterwards."Together they identified three main priorities.
Finding the teams
The women knew countries such as the USA, France, the Netherlands and Sweden had teams, but they had to find others who played to an international standard.That was easier said than done with no internet, no email, no social media or anything like that, instead fax machines were going morning, noon and night. Italy were keen to get involved but experienced the same problems as many of the other nations, as former player Erika Morri explains: "The (Italian Rugby) Federation did not want us to play, we were absolutely an undercover movement."When we got information that there would be a first women's World Cup we were so excited, we were feeling that there was something in the air that was changing."The Federation said, 'wait a second, they are going anyway to play the World Cup, perhaps it's time that we recognise them'."Somehow the women managed to get 12 teams on board: Canada, England, France, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, New Zealand, Russia, Spain, Sweden, USA and Wales.
Finding the venue
With the teams sorted, attention then turned to finding somewhere to play."I wanted a host city that loved rugby, there was no point trying to go somewhere where football was king and where we wouldn't make much impression," said Griffin.They looked at grounds in England, but they could not make the ends meet financially, so they had the idea to go to Wales where they were welcomed with open arms."What we knew was how strongly rugby was supported in Wales and how deep that runs through the Welsh veins," said Dorrington."They offered us the home ground [Cardiff Arms Park] for the final, the opening ceremony, the closing dinner and that was three huge elements to the event and just the making of the tournament."Grounds at Glamorgan Wanderers, Llanharan, Pontypool, Swansea and Aberavon hosted the pool games."The Welsh couldn't have been more welcoming," said Cooper.
Finding someone to pay
The 12 participating nations were initially promised that their accommodation and food would be paid for, they just needed to get to Wales.But with the bill rocketing to £35,000 the Richmond four soon realised they were in trouble."It wasn't so much that we were running it on a shoe string, we were running it on a frayed thread," said Cooper.Hundred of companies were approached for support, but purses stayed shut."I remember picking up the phone and a corporate organisation said to me 'Sue, women's rugby is a participation sport, it's not a spectator sport, good luck with that'," said Dorrington."I just couldn't unlock anyone who had the vision that we had, companies saw us as a novelty. In the end we had no money."They were forced to go back to the teams to say they did not think the tournament could go ahead, but they all came back and said they would pay themselves.One team brought their own challenges though, as Cooper explained: "The Russians weren't allowed to take any money out of the [former] Soviet Union."They didn't have any money for food, they were really hungry. They used to come down and do a sweep at breakfast and live on cornflakes for lunch."They got by selling Russian dolls and vodka on the steps of City Hall right in front of the authorities, which of course attracted the unwanted attention of customs."Fortunately the people of Cardiff were generous with donations, players even got £80 worth of Marks & Spencer vouchers each, which Cooper remembers them spending on underwear.Stresses were also coming from inside the camp after Dorrington splashed out £1,000 for an antique silver cup for the tournament trophy. "I wanted something that would last the time, it was just stunning and I bought it," she said."The other three were furious at me."While money was still a worry, the World Cup started to attract media attention, but not all of it was good, recalled rugby journalist Cooper: "We got some coverage but still only as a novelty thing. "There was quite a lot of detractors going 'that'll be a load of rubbish, that'll be silly girls rolling in mud'."
Pulling it off
After a year of blood, sweat and tears, the teams finally arrived in Cardiff to compete at the first Women's Rugby World Cup on 4 April, 1991.The celebration kicked off at Cardiff Arms Park, which former Wales captain Liza Burgess remembers well."The opening ceremony was an incredibly special day, all the teams were in their tracksuits with their placards," she said."It was an opportunity to play against teams we'd never seen, women from all over the world from different cultures. I'd never met people from Russia, I'd never met people from New Zealand."We love singing, New Zealand love singing and we were trying to outdo each other with our songs. We had a lot of fun and laughter."Italy's Morri said it was a "super emotional" moment."We were really in the state of mind that we were athletes for the first time. We just looked at each other saying we exist as a community, we were feeling like pioneers," Morri said.While it was an exciting time for the players, the work did not stop for the Richmond four, with two having their hands even fuller than usual.Griffin and Forsyth had both recently given birth, while Dorrington was involved in the action playing for England. "We were quite stressed and not sleeping, we were dealing with problems the whole time, making sure that everything was happening," said Griffin."By that time we were all exhausted, Debs and I were working 20 hours a day. I just remember feeling incredibly lonely and left out," said Cooper."At six o'clock in the morning I was at my desk and I'd get to bed at two o'clock. By the final we were absolutely hanging."Twenty one games were played over eight days and USA lived up to their favourites tag by beating England 19-6 in the final in front of 3,000 fans."All those teams were so incredibly elated at what just happened," said Forsyth."It was never a question of 'is this going to happen?', an obstacle would come up and you'd go around it, you'd swerve it."
Success at a cost
The tournament had been a success, women's rugby was finally on the world stage and the Richmond four achieved what they had set out to do.People were taking the sport and the athletes seriously and a new generation of role models and fans were born. But success came at a cost. The tournament had made a financial loss of £6,756, due in some part to the men's World Cup being staged at the same time, with some of the matches in Wales."Afterwards the financial situation was quite scary, we were left with debts and there was this story going around that we were going to remortgage our properties," said Griffin. Thankfully it never came to that as there were some anonymous pledges post-tournament, while the Rugby Football Union picked up the remainder of the deficit.While the books balanced, the women were left to deal with the emotional aftermath. "Debs went into isolation for six months, Alice lost her job, my marriage broke down, it was hard. It came at a great personal cost," said Dorrington."My daughter was born with a disability and that had only happened five months earlier, so there was a lot of processing and getting used to that. I went back to work and it was really really tough. I probably had a breakdown although I never sort of recognised it," admitted Griffin."It was an unrelenting, murderous nine days," added Cooper."Ultimately working at the World Cup contributed to me being fired."Despite the women remaining friends, they never spoke about the World Cup again, they just went quietly back to their lives."To be honest I think we were traumatised, it was just so hard," said Forsyth, holding back the tears.
Game changers
But there were happy tears more recently as the women made an emotional return to Cardiff Arms Park to present plaques to all the host venues which had welcomed them and the players 34 years ago. "There were so many people that stepped in and helped out, local clubs put themselves forward which was brilliant," said Griffin."It has had an immense impact on the game, more than I ever thought about."Dorrington added: "We were quite naive back then, we didn't understand what we were creating. We did it because it needed to be done and we were doers."Meanwhile, Italy's Morri said it was "a big bang for women's rugby"."It was like all the pieces of the puzzle got together. They were brave, they just followed their guts and they just thought let's do something beautiful."When the teams run out in front of record crowds this weekend, they will be standing on the shoulders of four incredible women who all shared one vision."When I discovered the game of rugby I just thought this is the best game I'd ever played," said Griffin. "I was absolutely shocked how the girls in my school didn't want to play sport. I thought that's a shame because I wanted other people to have the opportunity to play it and enjoy it."Now they do.