Rfu boss ian ritchie hits back at mps’ over criticism over women’s contracts - ruck

RFU CHIEF IAN RITCHIE HAS WRITTEN A LETTER TO SHADOW SPORTS MINISTER DR ROSENA ALLIN-KHAN, DEFENDING THE ORGANISATION’S CONTROVERSIAL DECISION TO NOT RENEW THE CONTRACTS OF THE ENGLAND

WOMEN’S 15-A-SIDE TEAM. Dr Allin-Khan wrote to Ritchie last Tuesday, urging him to reconsider the move as it suggested the RFU was “far less than fully committed” to the women’s game.

------------------------- READ MORE: ------------------------- “For an organisation with a total annual revenue in the hundreds of millions, to make this decision is deeply disappointing,”

she added. “Surely the RFU should be focused on investing in both aspects of the women’s game and should be prepared to back this up with secure contracts for both teams – 7s and 15s. After

all, this is the commitment the RFU has made to the men’s game.” > RFU boss Ian Ritchie defends decision not to renew England > WC-winning women’s contracts in response to @DrRosena 

letter > signed by 124 MPs pic.twitter.com/CJe40jY9Du >  > — Dan Roan (@danroan) July 29, 2017 But on Friday, Ritchie wrote back to Dr Allin-Khan to say the RFU was “extremely

proud” of its record in women’s rugby and that it takes “player welfare extremely seriously”. In the letter, Ritchie said: “There are 17 players on full-time contracts this season and there

will be 17 players on full-time contracts next season. ------------------------- ------------------------- “Because there is significant crossover between 7s and 15s players in international

women’s rugby, many of the players on 15s contracts will transition to 7s contracts. “It would harm the performance of both the 7s and 15s teams if we were to treat them as separate elite

squads and therefore we work on a cycle to match the international rugby calendar and select the strongest available squad for each major tournament.” He also wrote the RFU, the rugby

world’s richest governing body, would be supporting any 15s player who does not get a 7s contract so their move from international to club rugby “is as smooth as possible” and claimed all

concerned had been “heavily consulted”.