Wales Women will not fly business class to World Cup as WRU aims to address inequalities

The Wales women's squad in New Zealand will be the first World Cup party that includes players with professional contracts

Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) performance director Nigel Walker says he is looking to address inequalities as Wales women prepare to head to New Zealand for the World Cup.

The squad will not fly business class, which is the usual long-haul mode of travel for men's tours.

While professional contracts have been introduced for women, Walker admits inconsistencies remain.

"The women are not going business class," confirmed Walker.

"In Rugby World Cups you get a contribution from the governing body, we have used that contribution and booked flights accordingly.

"If you wanted to look for inequalities between the men's and women's game, you wouldn't have to look too far.

"We are trying to close that gap and we recognise that we have got a way to go, but the Welsh Rugby Union is committed to this women's programme. But this highlights one of the inequalities that exist."

It is understood the squad are travelling in premium economy class, with Wales having two weeks to acclimatise before the opening World Cup match against Scotland on 9 October.

Following the introduction of professional contracts, Walker insists Wales' women have had similar support to the men in their World Cup preparations.

After a gruelling summer fitness camp, they travelled to Canada, where a convincing defeat was followed up by a 73-7 hammering by England - Wales' fifth straight loss.

"No stone has been left unturned in the last nine months in particular, to prepare this team to perform with distinction in New Zealand," added Walker.

"We know performance sport has no guarantees. We are hopeful and confident we have done everything possible to prepare this team.

"Ioan Cunningham and his coaches have to take enormous credit for the thought, endeavour and preparation which has gone into this campaign.

"The players have said their preparation has been better than anything they have experienced.

"The coaching team and support staff have worked wonders but players have also thrown themselves into it.

"There will be no excuses but I would caution that we have been a professional outfit for nine months.

"We have made progress and are expecting them to acquit themselves well in New Zealand, but there are other countries that have a head-start on us.

"We are confident we will close that gap and do well, but people need to have perspective."

Walker has overseen the introduction of professional deals for female players since he arrived at the WRU, with the 32 players travelling to New Zealand all currently contracted.

"We have made tremendous progress in the last 12 months as far as women's rugby in Wales at the elite level is concerned," added Walker.

"We had 12 full-time contracts and up to 15 part-time contracts in January.

"After the Six Nations, Ioan and I had a conversation about how we could turbocharge our World Cup preparations and it was decided to offer around 35 - a few part-time because of people's circumstances, but the vast majority full-time - and we think that's helped our preparation.

"The plans were always to make it a world-class programme. We are on our way to making it a world-class programme but we recognise this is the start.

"We are ambitious to make women's rugby a force over time, but we need to be patient."

Nigel Walker played rugby for Wales and competed in the Olympics as a 110m hurdler

Knockout stages expected

After opening their Pool A campaign against Scotland, Wales face New Zealand on 16 October and then Australia six days later.

The 12-team tournament is split into three groups of four, with the top two from each pool and the leading two third-place sides qualifying for the quarter-finals.

Walker is expecting at least a last-eight place.

"We accept that if you invest more money in any programme, the expectations on that programme grow," added Walker.

"We are trying not to put pressure on the players but I think it's fair to say we would be disappointed if we didn't emerge from our group.

"This makes the first game against Scotland so important.

"Whatever we achieve in this World Cup, I would expect us to be better in 2025.

"When you make an investment in a team or an individual, you would expect over time to get better and I'm confident we are heading in the right direction."

What happens next?

The World Cup has been a short-term goal but long-term plans need to be implemented.

Walker insists the number of professional contracts after New Zealand "will be on or above the current level".

"That detail has not been discussed formally with the players although [there have been] informal conversations," Walker said.

"There will be professional contracts for Welsh women players going forward, next year and the year after. We are looking to build this programme, not go backwards."

A significant multi-year deal with Vodafone, which Walker has described as a "monumental and historic moment for the Welsh women's programme", will help finance the game and achieve the goal of producing 10,000 players by 2026.

Abbie Fleming tackles Alex Callender as Wales train before their departure for New Zealand

Domestic system

There are other issues to resolve. All 32 players heading to the World Cup currently play for English sides in the Premier 15s league.

Wales have to try to develop a meaningful domestic system, look towards a possible United Rugby Championship system or apply to have a Welsh side in the English top flight.

"Nothing is off the table, that's an active conversation," said Walker.

"I have spoken to my colleagues in the RFU about the possibility of an entry but there has been no formal application.

"I will be clear, they haven't offered it, it's one of the things we are talking about.

"The correct option is not necessarily about putting one team in the Premier 15s, it could be about building an opportunity for more than one team to play quality rugby on a regular basis.

"That's the ultimate aim, but we might have to start with something a little bit smaller, which doesn't get us to the end point but is a stepping stone.

"We know we need to have options in Wales, which are as attractive or almost as attractive as going over the bridge, if we're going to build something sustainable.

"Conversations are also going on with our colleagues in Ireland and Scotland.

"They have a similar problem and we know we need to solve the problem of our top players playing in another country.

"I am confident we will have an announcement in the next two to three months in terms of the gap between international and our club rugby."

Path to success?

There is also a need to develop a pathway for female players, with Walker's critics saying this development is happening too slowly.

"People need to be patient," added Walker.

"We have got a number of challenges in front of us and are addressing those.

"There will be a programme. We established an under-18s squad for the festival last year and that is continuing.

"We are also establishing an under-20s team. We are in it for the long run and we recognise we have to have a complete pathway to do that.

"The pathway was one of the things in the review and we have been working consistently over the last few months in order to build a pathway which is sustainable and gives us the best chance of being successful, not just at under-18 and under-20s but at senior level."

Walker believes progress has been made in the women's game during the year he has been in charge.

"I think we've done quite a bit," said Walker

"When I came into post, we had no professional contracts, we didn't have any permanent coaches for the senior team, the science and medicine team has been bolstered, we've got nutritionists, psychologists, extra physiotherapists, strength and conditioning coaches, a whole panoply of support staff," said Walker.

"We've got a home in the National Centre of Excellence which we didn't have before.

"We've got consistent training, we've won two games in the autumn internationals and two in the Six Nations and are heading off to the World Cup with hope.

"We've transformed the feeling within the squad. Added to that, we're well on our way to establishing an under-20s team, we've established an under-18s team and we're working very closely with our colleagues in the community department to make sure we've got opportunities for girls to play the game, particularly at under-12s, under-14s, under-16s and under-18s, or at least practise their skills in development centres.

"I would say that's a reasonable scorecard.

"We're not complacent, we've got more work to do and know the system is not perfect, but we've made considerable progress."