Rugby writers reward Women's rugby - but keep quiet about it

On the face of it, a Special Award from the Rugby Union Writers Club to Cath Spencer (right) the captain of the England Women's team should be seen as a important event. Not only richy deserved for both Cath and her team, but coming from a group that has, until now, bent over backwards to avoid giving any recognition to the game it should be a major breakthrough.

Should be - because this is where things get quite strange. Because a couple of weeks ago Cath received her award at a dinner organised by the RUWC, alongside two other (needless to say male) players. It was a great evening, and Cath said all the right things, such as “The honour was great for me as an individual and for England as a team, but it was brilliant for the women’s game to be given that profile at such a prestigious ceremony”. But when it came to publicising this event, guess what the writers did? Yes - they ignored Cath's award pretty much completely - in fact only one report (that I can trace) mentioning Cath appeared, on the women's news section of the Six Nations website.

Very odd. It seems that the country's rugby writers do recognise women's rugby and the success and ability of the England team in private... but dare not be seen to support it in public! What are they frightened of?