Irish rugby: Women's players have 'difficult decision' over IRFU contracts

Neve Jones made her debut in the 2020 Six Nations

A number of Ireland women's players have faced a "really difficult decision" over whether or not to sign a professional contract with the IRFU, says hooker Neve Jones.

It is understood that a stipulation of the new contracts, the first of their kind for female Irish 15s players, is that a player must play their rugby in Ireland.

Jones, who plies her trade for Gloucester-Hartpury in the Premier 15s, declined to reveal whether she had agreed to sign the contract.

"It was a really difficult decision I had to make and it wasn't something that was easy to decide and it took me a few days to decide," she said.

"I'll leave it there and not say whether I have or haven't, just that it's a very difficult decision and one that a number of players who are in the same boat as me have pondered over for a while."

Jones was speaking upon receiving the Rugby Writers of Ireland women's player of the year award following a stellar individual campaign.

In August the IRFU said it would offer 43 professional women's contracts to 15s and sevens players that would "range up to 30,000 euro plus match fees and bonuses."

Jones said deciding on whether to accept a contract offer was "not as easy as a yes/no" and "hopefully down the line things will change".

"It's one of those things," she added.

"There's a lot of life involved, my life is rugby and I revolve everything around it, but I need to take the emotional side away from it and think what's best for me; not only as a player, but as a person as well.

"Tough decisions were made, I think the decision I made is the right one for me at this time and hopefully down the line things will change."

Things moving in right direction

Last November, hooker Cliodhna Moloney was publicly critical of former IRFU director of women's and sevens rugby Anthony Eddy, and has not been part of Greg McWilliams' squad since he took over as head coach from Adam Griggs.

However, the IRFU said her omission from subsequent squads was not down to her comments.

That handed Jones a starting berth in the spring, but the Ulster native said Moloney, who also plays her club rugby in England for Exeter, "is a world class player".

"We played against Exeter Chiefs a few weeks ago," she said.

"It was good to go head to head, we're very different players, credit to her she's tearing it up in the Prem-15s, but I'm just focused on my job and what I bring to the table."

Jones added that while it was hard to commit to an IRFU contract, she felt things were moving in the "right direction".

"We're definitely making progress, it's definitely going to be a fantastic thing for the women's game in Ireland and it's what needs to happen for the next building blocks for our game," she added.

"There's so many positives to take out of it, I can't wait to see where it takes us."