The Albany Gazette - Chancellor wants women's rugby to forge own path

Saturday marks the culmination of the Women's Six Nations, with reigning European champions England once more facing France in a Grand Slam decider at Twickenham.

England, whose only defeat in their last 35 Tests came against hosts New Zealand in November's World Cup final in Auckland, have been utterly dominant in their opening four matches of the Six Nations.

The Red Roses have scored 233 points and conceded a mere 15, with the feeling among many neutrals after last week's 48-0 rout of Ireland one of relief they had failed to pass the 50-point mark for the first time this season.

World Rugby hope their new Accelerate programme of support for national unions, combined with the launch of the 18-team, three-tier WXV global competition in October, will lead to a more closely contested 2025 Women's World Cup in England.

- 'What does professional look like?' -

Chancellor, now playing for London club Harlequins, said it was important the women's game retained its own identity.

"As a female athlete growing up, you have male role models," said Chancellor, 31, speaking at the SportsPro Live conference. "I've always seen the male professional as the goal -- full-time rugby that's the dream, full stop.

"I think now, 'how can we make this our own journey'? What does professional look like?

"Is it purely what we see already exists or is professional rugby? ...It doesn't have to be the same model as what the men do now."

World Rugby chief executive Alan Gilpin said: "Rugby has this ethos of team first, it's very hard to be an individual star in rugby, we've got to flip that on its head. The women's game is a chance to do that because the structures are less embedded."

Then England captain Sarah Hunter retired last month after appearing in a women's record 141 Tests -- more than double the number Australia's Wallaroos have played in their entire history.

"WXV is a really exciting opportunity to play more Test matches from a country that has gone many years playing six games a World Cup cycle," said Chancellor. "You are going to have five good competitive games a year."

World Rugby have yet to release figures regarding the amount of money they will inject into the Accelerate programme but Sally Horrox, the global governing body's chair of women's rugby, said the initiative would "cascade down to choice unions in the next one to three years".

But amid media reports of a lack of support for the women's game among senior Irish rugby figures, Horrox warned national unions would have to commit to minimum standards and investment levels.

"Without referencing Ireland specifically, anyone that works with us in that regard has to come to the table willingly," she said. "Then we'll make our choices and work with them on the right initiatives."

An October launch of the WXV means it will overlap with this year's men's Rugby World Cup in France.

(A.Lehmann--BBZ)