England v Canada: Lack of TV coverage ‘damaging’ for women’s rugby, says Ellie Kildunne

It was reported that ITV and the BBC opted not to show the matches. , external

The BBC said it does not comment on sports rights negotiations. ITV said that ITVX will show a number of games from the WXV tournament in October, which features England, Australia, Canada, Wales and New Zealand.

Women’s rugby has had record television figures for major international matches this year.

The 2023 Six Nations, which saw England lift the trophy for the fifth time in a row, was watched for a total of 10.4 million hours in the UK – the longest in history – according to figures from the Women’s Sport Trust.

England are aiming to secure a series whitewash at the weekend, having beaten Canada 50-24 in the first match at Exeter’s Sandy Park.

Kildunne says she has heard viewing figures on YouTube for the first match were good, but traditional broadcasters need to do more to support women’s rugby.

“I think we are heading in the direction where more needs to be done. It is easy to say ‘we support the women’, but really are you doing everything as a business to support the women and put them out there?”, she said.

The fixtures for the series were released in July – short notice for broadcasters – while coverage of the matches may have been affected by the clash with games in the men’s Rugby World Cup taking place in France.

At the same time as England women playing Canada this weekend, World Cup fixtures between Argentina and Chile then Fiji versus Georgia will be happening.

But Kildunne believes that is no excuse, saying: “Arguing that the men’s rugby is on… this should be just as important.

“We are on the rise, we are a really successful team and are playing some good rugby as well. People want to watch it, let us impress the world.”