Transgender women will not be allowed to play in female contact rugby competitions in England, under new recommendations from the RFU.
Until now, the governing body has allowed some transgender women to play women’s rugby but they have had to apply on a case-by-case basis. However, after a two-year review, it is now recommending to the RFU Council that anyone whose sex was assigned as male at birth should not be able play girls’ or women’s rugby.
That falls into line with World Rugby’s guidelines and is similar to those announced recently by rugby league and the international swimming federation, Fina.
At the moment, there are five or six transgender women playing community rugby in England — they applied to the RFU who decided to permit it on the basis there would be no increased risk to opponents based on their size and weight.
Those rules also applied to the Allianz Premier 15s, though it is understood that no transgender women play in the elite game in England.
The recommendation to the RFU Council will be that it follows World Rugby’s rules, which apply to the senior England women’s side. Girls and boys will still be able to play in the same teams up until the age of 12.
The World Rugby rules state: “Transgender women may not currently play women’s rugby… because of the size, force and power-producing advantages conferred by testosterone during puberty and adolescence, and the resultant player welfare risks this creates.”
The RFU said that it “has contacted registered trans female players, on whom the policy will have a direct impact to offer its support in continuing to encourage them to participate in the sport”.
The RFU recommendations add: “In the male category it is proposed that players whose sex recorded at birth is female may play if they provide their written consent and a risk assessment is carried out.”
Nadine Dorries, the culture secretary, held a round table meeting for British sports organisations last month and urged them to adopt the policy announced by Fina, which states that anyone who has gone through male puberty cannot enter women’s events in elite swimming competition.
Fina’s policy means that the transgender American college swimmer, Lia Thomas, will be blocked from participating in the female category at the 2024 Olympics. The policy also covers diving, which prompted Tom Daley, the Olympic 10m synchro champion, to say that he was “furious” at the decision.
> Girls and boys will still be able to play in the same teams up until the age of 12.
> *At the moment, there are five or six transgender women playing community rugby in England*
This is great news and a win for women!
>The RFU said that it “has contacted registered trans female players, on whom the policy will have a direct impact to offer its support in continuing to encourage them to participate in the sport”.
“You six can start two three-a-side teams and play in one of your gardens!”
Okay that affects 6 people.
Kinda sucks for them, but the idea that this is something to base voting intentions on is completely insane.
The Tories want a culture war.
Let’s talk about real issues instead.
First, heart goes out to those affected.
Second, Dorries is awful.
Third, I don’t know what the answer is in Rugby. Size and power mismatches canbget ugly. I’ve seen, and played in, school games where the big lad was taken off for safety concerns. So can see, in theory, the sense of it. That there were only 6 players suggests a case by case approach would be better approach.
Too much of an advantage
LOL the comments are going to be amazing
[removed]
Makes sense
Many years ago, I was studying for my bachelors in sport science, and I happened to have a few transgender friends, so I was interested in finding out more about this exact subject.
I was told in no uncertain terms by my supervisor not to look into it, partly because he wasn’t aware of any published work in the area that an undergrad would have found useful, but also because it was a quick way to destroy your career.
Hope this was a decision by sports scientists
Good decision 👍🏻
Hopefully other sports do this aswell.
I think this is the right decision.
Hello, Common Sense. We’ve been missing you.
Great win for women
Congrats
Good. Too much of a physical difference that would make it dangerous on a rugby field for women.
Massive win for female sports.
A rare glimpse of sanity.
I was mutant big at 12 years old, 6 foot and 13 stone, I played Boys Under 13 County Rugby – there were numerous schools, clubs and even county teams I was not allowed to play against, the argument being ‘he’s basically a man’ – and sure enough, coming off the blind side flank and hospitalising the the 4 foot, 40 kilo scrum half with all the shit feelings that came with it, just about evened out my upset at being omitted from time to time…and thats something I hope all the peeps affected by this remember: Its not just about me.
22 comments
Transgender women will not be allowed to play in female contact rugby competitions in England, under new recommendations from the RFU.
Until now, the governing body has allowed some transgender women to play women’s rugby but they have had to apply on a case-by-case basis. However, after a two-year review, it is now recommending to the RFU Council that anyone whose sex was assigned as male at birth should not be able play girls’ or women’s rugby.
That falls into line with World Rugby’s guidelines and is similar to those announced recently by rugby league and the international swimming federation, Fina.
At the moment, there are five or six transgender women playing community rugby in England — they applied to the RFU who decided to permit it on the basis there would be no increased risk to opponents based on their size and weight.
Those rules also applied to the Allianz Premier 15s, though it is understood that no transgender women play in the elite game in England.
The recommendation to the RFU Council will be that it follows World Rugby’s rules, which apply to the senior England women’s side. Girls and boys will still be able to play in the same teams up until the age of 12.
The World Rugby rules state: “Transgender women may not currently play women’s rugby… because of the size, force and power-producing advantages conferred by testosterone during puberty and adolescence, and the resultant player welfare risks this creates.”
The RFU said that it “has contacted registered trans female players, on whom the policy will have a direct impact to offer its support in continuing to encourage them to participate in the sport”.
The RFU recommendations add: “In the male category it is proposed that players whose sex recorded at birth is female may play if they provide their written consent and a risk assessment is carried out.”
Nadine Dorries, the culture secretary, held a round table meeting for British sports organisations last month and urged them to adopt the policy announced by Fina, which states that anyone who has gone through male puberty cannot enter women’s events in elite swimming competition.
Fina’s policy means that the transgender American college swimmer, Lia Thomas, will be blocked from participating in the female category at the 2024 Olympics. The policy also covers diving, which prompted Tom Daley, the Olympic 10m synchro champion, to say that he was “furious” at the decision.
> Girls and boys will still be able to play in the same teams up until the age of 12.
Imagine if we had a Rugby World Cup for 12-year-olds, hosted in Twickenham Stadium and broadcasted to the world. [That would be Pay-per-view hit.](https://thumbs.gfycat.com/SaltyUnimportantBream-max-1mb.gif)
From the article:
> *At the moment, there are five or six transgender women playing community rugby in England*
This is great news and a win for women!
>The RFU said that it “has contacted registered trans female players, on whom the policy will have a direct impact to offer its support in continuing to encourage them to participate in the sport”.
“You six can start two three-a-side teams and play in one of your gardens!”
Okay that affects 6 people.
Kinda sucks for them, but the idea that this is something to base voting intentions on is completely insane.
The Tories want a culture war.
Let’s talk about real issues instead.
First, heart goes out to those affected.
Second, Dorries is awful.
Third, I don’t know what the answer is in Rugby. Size and power mismatches canbget ugly. I’ve seen, and played in, school games where the big lad was taken off for safety concerns. So can see, in theory, the sense of it. That there were only 6 players suggests a case by case approach would be better approach.
Too much of an advantage
LOL the comments are going to be amazing
[removed]
Makes sense
Many years ago, I was studying for my bachelors in sport science, and I happened to have a few transgender friends, so I was interested in finding out more about this exact subject.
I was told in no uncertain terms by my supervisor not to look into it, partly because he wasn’t aware of any published work in the area that an undergrad would have found useful, but also because it was a quick way to destroy your career.
Hope this was a decision by sports scientists
Good decision 👍🏻
Hopefully other sports do this aswell.
I think this is the right decision.
Hello, Common Sense. We’ve been missing you.
Great win for women
Congrats
Good. Too much of a physical difference that would make it dangerous on a rugby field for women.
Massive win for female sports.
A rare glimpse of sanity.
I was mutant big at 12 years old, 6 foot and 13 stone, I played Boys Under 13 County Rugby – there were numerous schools, clubs and even county teams I was not allowed to play against, the argument being ‘he’s basically a man’ – and sure enough, coming off the blind side flank and hospitalising the the 4 foot, 40 kilo scrum half with all the shit feelings that came with it, just about evened out my upset at being omitted from time to time…and thats something I hope all the peeps affected by this remember: Its not just about me.