'Bag of crap' - World Rugby come under fire over facilities at 'elite' womens' tournament

The third Women’s Rugby Super Series is underway in San Diego, but already a lot of criticism has been directed at World Rugby.

This comes after broadcaster Scotty Stevenson’s impassioned rant on Twitter regarding the standards of the facilities for the competition.

The Super Series is a competition for the elite in the women’s game, with England, New Zealand, France, Canada and the United States, with the majority of games played at San Diego’s Chula Vista Elite Athlete Training Center.

However, Stevenson explains how fans need to bring their own seats and how the pitch has been described as “barely fit for a training run”. Further, the changing rooms are “a tent with a portable toilet”.

Here are the highlights of New Zealand’s game against Canada, which give an insight into what is being talked about:

As expected, many fans have vented their anger towards World Rugby in light of this, accusing them of neglecting the women’s game.

World Rugby have continuously endeavoured to grow the game and make it more inclusive, such as making a third of its board female. However, some fans feel that the Super Series is still an indication of their shortcomings.

The women’s game has seen crowds of over 10,000 in the past, so making fans bring their own seats is a backwards step as teams like England would have grown accustomed to playing in some of rugby’s biggest stadiums.

This is what the fans have said:

World Rugby has received a lot of press recently, particularly after the Law Review Group met last week. However, this is some criticism that they will not want to receive, particularly after they have striven over the past few years to grow the game in all areas.

A couple of games are to be played at the Torero Stadium, which recently hosted the Major League Rugby final, but the Chula Vista venue has already developed a reputation for itself and angered many fans.