Former Wallaroos and Waratahs captain Ash Hewson has slammed a radical proposal from England women’s coach Simon Middleton to allow female rugby players to take conversions further in from touch, saying the comments aren’t helpful for the female game.
It comes as Waratahs women’s coach Campbell Aitken supported Hewson’s stance by labelling the left-field idea a “slap in the face for the girls”.
England’s first-choice kicker Zoe Harrison has been sidelined with a knee injury during the early stages of the Women’s Six Nations Championship.
However, England have struggled without Harrison.
With Holly Aitchison stepping in to take conversions and penalties for the Red Roses, England managed just four successful conversions from 10 attempts against Scotland and an even worse return against Italy (four from 12).
Speaking to reporters this week, Middleton offered a solution that has set tongues wagging.
England’s Zoe Harrison takes a kick at goal. Credit: PA
“I have a view on it. I think we should change the parameters for goal-kicking,” Middleton said.
“If a try is scored [within five metres of the touchline], the option should be there, maybe not to bring it into the 15-metre line, but maybe 10 metres from the touchline.
“If you gave someone the option of kicking from the touchline or bringing it 10 metres in, I would hazard a guess that most kickers in the female game would bring it in.
“I think that could impact the game and change it positively. I think it is a bit of an unfair game for female kickers because so much about goal-kicking relies on power.
“Holly struck the ball beautifully last week and dropped about five under the crossbar.
“You want to be rewarded for good skill and hard practice and I don’t think they get rewarded because of physical constraints that come with what we know is a natural discrepancy between male and female athletes.”
Hewson, one of Australia’s finest No.10s who kicked a match-winning penalty in double extra time for the Waratahs in the 2018 Super W final, vehemently disagrees with Middleton.
“I just see this as a step backwards,” Hewson said. “I really don’t understand where Simon Middleton is coming from to be honest with you.
Former Waratahs and Wallaroos captain Ash Hewson.Credit: Stu Walmsley
“I think there’s plenty of female rugby players, past and present, that have the ability to kick from anywhere on the field as well as their male counterparts. They’re usually half their size too.
“The biggest thing for me is we have fought for so long and so hard for equality in women’s sport in general – not just rugby – and we’ve still got such a long way to go. I understand where he’s coming from, in a sense, but we don’t put women’s soccer players on a smaller pitch.”
Aitken, whose Waratahs side face the Queensland Reds this Sunday at Concord Oval, said he didn’t feel there was “any legs” to the idea.
“I wouldn’t like to see it come in … I think it is a bit of a slap in the face for the girls,” Aitken said. “I’d encourage teams to score more tries and run the ball around. If you score out wide, you score out wide. There are goal-kickers who are very competent and Ash being one of them.
“One of the attractions of the women’s game is they’re more likely to take tap penalties or have a crack from scrums.
“I think AFL has a bigger problem than we do around attractiveness of the game. No one has complained in Super W that conversions aren’t going over.”
Interestingly, World Rugby posted a video on its Rugby World Cup Twitter page on Thursday, showing highlights of female players kicking impressive sideline conversions at last year’s tournament.
Aitken said Waratahs playmakers Tane Edmed and Will Harrison have been helping some of his players with their goal-kicking before training.
“That’s probably the first time in their careers they are getting some good coaching on it,” Campbell said.
Hewson can’t recall ever receiving proper kicking training during her career in Australian rugby. She says it’s imperative for the development of female kickers.
“[Middleton’s idea] is not having faith in the systems to develop players,” Hewson said. “It definitely needs to be coached.
“There are plenty of women at the moment in Super W who can strike a ball, they just are missing a bit of that technique. Because of a lack of resources, that has never really been acknowledged or worked on. It’s such an imperative part of the game. Getting three-pointers changes the game.
“There are only a few female kickers out there that can slot it from the sideline or kick it from 40 or 50 metres out. It’s more about developing the skill as opposed to making it almost like a handicap.”
The Waratahs are high on confidence after a resounding 31-5 victory over Fijiana Drua but will have their work cut out against the Reds.
“There’s a fair bit of motivation for us,” Aitken said, “Queensland are undefeated and it’s a great advert for the game and hopefully a lot of people turn up.”
