3. RECORD SETTING FIRST SOLD OUT HIVE STADIUM FOR SCOTLAND WOMEN
It was announced yesterday that Scotland Women have achieved a first ever sell out of the Hive Stadium, with more than 7,700 tickets sold for Saturday’s battle against England. In what continues to be a progressive step forward in the growth of Women’s rugby, the Red Roses are primed and ready to experience a historic day for their opponents from the North.
Scotland have been pushing from strength to strength in recent months, having gotten a taste of silverware in the 2023 WXV2 competition. Aldcroft and Mitchell recognise how the Scots have been steadily improving and closing down the gap, as Bryan Easson’s side rolled the winning momentum into a first round win over Wales in Cardiff.
ZOE ALDCROFT: “It’s super, super exciting and we always want to pack out the stadium. So for Scotland to have their first time at the Hive be sold out, it’s super special for for them as well as for us, to have hopefully a few of the English fans going up there as well.”
“I think in England, we want to get as many women and girls playing rugby that that we possibly can and to have the World Cup next year only boosts that. Then also, I think the Red Roses as a side we have our grass-roots clubs that were directed to, so hopefully we can grow that as well by getting out into the community and growing that as well.”
JOHN MITCHELL: “They’re well organized. They’ll take belief from what they’ve built. That’s, that’s only natural. And now obviously we’ve got our own fixture this weekend, it’s a different context. Like I said, at the start of the tournament, you know, we’re about playing the game at a higher tempo, have said at the start of this particular press conference that we want to raise the level of our game, as well.”
“We want to put more pressure on the opposition. So we’ll just see, see how they can handle that pressure. Ultimately it will be up to them to handle that pressure, but we’re certainly looking forward to it.”
4. ALDCROFT & MITCHELL RESPOND TO TRIALLED SMALLER RUGBY BALLS
A slightly left field point of discussion in the press conference, was the talk around the trialled use of smaller size rugby balls within the women’s game. The recent U18s Women’s Six Nations Festival used size 4.5 rugby balls in the matches, as apposed to the regular size five that have previously been used.
The research is currently ongoing, with data soon to be presented as to whether having the smaller size 4.5 rugby ball helps or hinders the women’s rugby players. The data analysts are investigating whether the ball is dropped more at a full size five, and also how the reduced size of the ball impacts kicking within women’s rugby. Mitchell and Aldcroft gave their thoughts on the matter, yet had a predominant focus on the task at hand against Scotland.
JOHN MITCHELL: “It’s pretty irrelevant for us at the moment. We use the big ball and we’re quite happy with that. When the smaller ball arrives we’ll deal with that. I’m always open (to data). But at the end of the day it’s not really relevant to us at the moment.”
“I don’t want to create a headline over this. At the end of the day, the quality of our work is with the big ball, but if I put on my development hat, these young girls have been exposed to a big ball their whole life. If you’ve got younger girls wanting to come into the game, you have smaller communities that don’t have the ability to play 15s but could do a lot more in school yards with smaller balls, if that gives them confidence to play the game, then I’m all for it.”
ZOE ALDCROFT: “We haven’t had many issues so far with a size 5. But we’ll go ahead and see what the 4.5 ball will do.”