Scarratt excited by new pathway

ENGLAND centurion Emily Scarratt is delighted with the new women's BUCS programme which aims to provide a smoother pathway for young aspiring female players.

- MAX HARRIS

With the home World Cup fast approaching and key figures in the men's game such as Siya Kolisi appealing for increased support and funding, women's rugby is growing rapidly.

A new programme has been created to offer a clear pathway for university students to transfer into professional rugby. It has been designed to replicate the men's game and their links with BUCS Super Rugby. Last year, a similar system was in place, but it only included four of the seven university teams whereas the new programme offers a pathway for all seven universities, supporting over 200 female players.

Scarratt, 34, told The Rugby Paper: "Being able to roll it out across all seven universities is super exciting. To cover the whole top tier of university rugby this year is a huge step forward. The development pathway for young girls in rugby nowadays is amazing, so hopefully we can start making a real difference to some of these players in the game." Those benefiting from the programme also have access to the PLAYER.Connect Hub, a monitoring system that keeps check of sleep, menstrual cycles and other things that affect play, along with guidance from professionals in nutrition and sports psychology and even support from mental health charity, LooseHeadz.