Women's rugby column launched on IRB website

Something of a first this. The IRB have started what they say will be a regular column on women's rugby on their website. Of course this sudden recognition for the game has nothing to do with the bid for a place at the Olympics - its sheer co-incidence that the articles will concentrate on sevens.

Cynical though that may be, at least it does exist and interesting it is too - not least because it is not being written by one of the usual suspects - ie. a player from one of the major nations - but instead is being penned by the Uganda Women's captain, Helen Buteme.

Uganda's women qualified for the Sevens world cup earlier this year - an achievement which, Helen points out, no men's team has matched in any sport in the country's history. Beyond that its a familiar litany of underfunding and media invisibility - but there are plenty of positives too.

Not sure how often Helen will be writing, but it looks worth following.