Trendy or Not

Following a crushing defeat to England, in which Wales lost 12-67, Jasmine Joyce-Butcher has found herself forced to defend her appearance in a TikTok video with England prop Sarah Bern, and pundits, former England star Katy Daley-McClean and former Wales Captain Siwan Lillicrap.

The criticism is largely that after such a heavy defeat, the expectation is that Joyce-Butchers should be hurting and licking her wounds with her team, not taking part in frivolous and fun things such as a TikTok trend. The suggestion is that perhaps her commitment is lacking, her competitive spirit isn’t where it should be and she’s not taking it seriously enough.

I call bullshit.

If I’m honest, I don’t have a lot of time personally for such trends in general, I’ve not taken part in a social media trend since the ice bucket challenge. However, I’m fuming that Joyce-Butchers has to defend her participation in one and that her commitment is brought into question.

My feeling is that the criticism is coming from people heavily invested in the men’s game, with only that as their frame of reference. The simple truth is that any defence of such participation should boil down to one thing.

This is women’s rugby.

It’s a different product, a different audience, a different vibe and a different game entirely from the men’s. And that’s okay.

The women’s game is in its infancy still. It’s undergoing the greatest growth in its history. A huge part of that growth is the personalities within in it and the accessibility of its players.

For far too long, the people in charge of the women’s game tried so hard to treat it like men’s rugby, to follow the exact same path, to mould it into the same product, and it failed. It failed in part because those behind it didn’t have the will to really grow it and in part because they didn’t understand it.

Back in 2017 the IRFU top dog Philip Browne was very vocal in objecting to gender quotas in sports governance on the basis that women lacked the “rugby knowledge and wisdom” required to govern in rugby.

Christ on a bike, you’d swear that quote was from the 1950s. But I digress…

Former IRFU CEO Philip Browne

I would argue that perhaps those only ever involved in and focused on the men’s game don’t have the knowledge required to oversee the women’s game. I see the criticism of Joyce coming from people who are deeply invested in the men’s product, not those leading the growth of the women’s game.

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, the single best marketing tool for women’s rugby, it the women themselves. Their personalities are addictive. The enjoyment they get from what they do is palpable. This doesn’t mean they don’t take what they do seriously, quite the opposite. It means they understand that to do what they do at the top level; they need to be part of a product that sells. And boy are they selling it well!

A post shared by @neve_jones_

The women actively engage in various trends, they embrace it and clearly have fun doing so. And the fans lap it up.

At best it is a marketing machine that is propelling the game at an unimaginable rate, at worst, it’s harmless fun that adds to the occasion.

So let them do it. Let women create their own product. Let them decide what’s appropriate and what’s not. Let them set the standards and christ, let them do it without questioning their commitment to their profession.

As Jasmine Joyce-Butchers said on Instagram, “If we don't love what we do, then why do it?”

Irish Women’s Rugby Supporters Club