England's women reached the final of last year's Women's Rugby World Cup but still failed to achieve much success for the national broadcaster Photo: Collection RFU/Alex Davidson
The BBC snubbed the Red Roses by turning down the opportunity to show their upcoming matches against Canada despite being offered the rights for free.
England will host World Cup semi-finalists Canada, ranked fourth in the world, at Sandy Park this Saturday and at Stonex Stadium on September 30. Both matches will serve as a warm-up for the new WXV global competition.
Both matches were offered for free by the BBC in the hope that they could be shown on at least the BBC iPlayer. But the corporation, which is two years into a five-year deal to show the Six Women's Nations, is understood to have refused to show both games. In response to a request from Telegraph Sport, the BBC said it does not comment on negotiations over sports rights.
RFU leaders are deeply disappointed by the situation, and fans have expressed dismay on social media at the lack of such an opportunity. live broadcast of any match.
Due to a lack of support from the broadcaster, the union was left with no choice but to show both matches live online. It marks an impressive demotion for the Red Roses, who have become a mainstay of BBC Two over the past few seasons and earlier this year won their fourth Grand Slam in a row in front of a record crowd of 58,498 at Twickenham.
Packer' disappointed by lack of TV time
England captain Marley Packer said she was “extremely disappointed” that none of the matches would be shown on mainstream television.
“After playing in the Six Nations and getting 58,000 spectators at Twickenham, it's obviously a shame that we couldn't show it on regular terrestrial television,” Packer said.
“But the fact that it is still because it is broadcast live, people can still access it and watch it. It's a little taller than us. We're here to play rugby and we're focused on the weekend. We're disappointed, but we know our fans and they'll still be watching this live.»
Louis Deacon, interim head coach of the Red Roses, who will be in charge of the Red Roses at the Canadian tests and during the WXV before new head coach John Mitchell took over, echoed Packer's comments.
«It's a shame it won't be televised,» said the former Leicester Tigers lock. “It [the women's game] used to have a lot of support from the BBC and the Six Nations and that's really helping to grow the women's game. All we can do is focus on the game and continue to build on the support that the Red Roses already have.
The failure to find a broadcaster also raises questions about the Six Nations' ability to promote the women's game. The Six Nations are responsible for extending television rights to women's programs, even if they go beyond the annual competition. The organizers refused to comment on the situation, despite repeated requests from Telegraph Sport.
ITV, which showed all of last year's Women's World Cup matches, is understood to have also refused to buy any of the matches. This is believed to be partly due to the channel's busy rugby schedule, which is host of the men's World Cup in France.
«We understand the important role of broadcast»
Lack of time to prepare for broadcast Both matches covered by the RFU announced in mid-July are believed to have put off broadcasters greatly, although the apparent lack of interest belies the growing public interest in women's rugby.
Data from the Women's Sport Trust shows BBC audiences for this year's Red Roses matches are up 17 per cent on 2022, while this year's Women's Six Nations is the most watched ever with 10.4 million hours watched, up from the previous best. there will be 7.7 million in 2022.
An RFU spokesman said: “We understand the important role broadcast plays in the accessibility of women's rugby, as well as its ability to build a fan base and inspire people to try the game.”
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“We are delighted to be live streaming England v Canada Summer Series matches this month on England Rugby’s YouTube and Facebook channels. This will be a great opportunity to show the Red Roses in action ahead of the WXV's first tournament in New Zealand in October.»
Wales' friendly against the USA on 30 September — another warm-up match for the WXV — has also struggled to attract attention from the national broadcaster.
It will be a bitter blow for Wales, who had one of their best games in the history of the Women's Six Nations this year, finishing third behind England and France, following increased WRU investment in their women's program .
All of Wales' Six Nations matches this year were shown on the BBC, but a rumored collapse in interest in their friendly has upset some WRU members.
Telegraph Sport understands that talks were held with Welsh channel S4C to broadcast the match, but no agreement was reached.
England will begin their WXV campaign on October 20 in Wellington, ahead of the matches against Canada and world champions New Zealand.
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