Harlequins captain Jade Konkel is predicting a boom time for women’s rugby following this summer’s World Cup.
The tournament, which was hosted in England, attracted record attendances for the women’s game.
And Konkel, who reached the quarter finals with Scotland in the summer showpiece, believes that the spectacular success of the Red Roses can propel a new wave of interest at domestic level.
Speaking ahead of Harlequins’ Premiership Women’s Rugby (PWR) season opener against Loughborough on Friday (7.30pm), she said: “I’m hopeful that women’s rugby in Great Britain is going to grow.
“The fact that people were really hungry to see women’s rugby [during the World Cup] is incredible.
“I’d love to see the interest filter down into the PWR and I’m hopeful it will.”
Based on recent data, the No. 8’s optimism is well-founded.
Even before the World Cup, interest in women’s rugby was steadily growing, with a world-record 18,055 spectators attending Quins’ Big 16 game against Leicester last season.
An impressive 7,848 fans also filed into the StoneX Stadium for March’s PWR final, where Gloucester-Hartpury triumphed against hosts Saracens.
And the sheer scale of the World Cup crowds certainly suggest that the sport is having its Lionesses moment in the same way football has following England’s back-to-back European Championship triumphs.
As far as her club’s hopes for the new campaign go, Konkel called on Quins to be more incisive in attack this season.
The west London side finished third and reached the playoff semi finals last time out, but the ex-Army Cadet believes sloppiness in the final third prevented them from achieving further success.
The 31-year-old said: “It’s the small elements.
“Whether that’s keeping the ball in hand or if we are going to kick and win the territory game, we need to make sure it’s the right time we’re doing that.
“We are an attacking side and we want to attack but we need the ball to do that, so it’s about taking our chances to make sure we can play that attacking, brave brand of rugby.
“We need to be more clinical.”
Feature image: Harlequins FC
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