RUGBY Australia’s general manager of Women’s Rugby, Jilly Collins, believes the continued growth of Super Rugby Women’s is inspiring more young girls across Fiji and Australia to take up the sport.
Collins said the competition provides the region’s best female players with a platform to showcase their talent while creating role models for future generations.
“What Super Rugby Women’s does is puts the best rugby players on the platform across Australia and Fiji,” Collins said.
“There’s so much pride behind these players and teams. It really does inspire the next generation of players that can look at their heroes and say, ‘I want to give that a go too.’”
She said increasing participation among young girls remains one of Rugby Australia’s biggest goals.
“Seeing participation numbers in both Fiji and Australia increasing is what it’s all about at the end of the day.”
“As much as it’s a wonderful spectacle, giving more opportunities for girls to play rugby is the silver lining in everything.”
Following next week’s champions clash between the NSW Waratahs and the winners of New Zealand’s Super Rugby Aupiki competition, Collins said attention would quickly turn to the international calendar.
She noted that the Fijiana will host South Africa in Fiji, while the Wallaroos will cross the Tasman to face the Black Ferns in Auckland.
Looking ahead to the 2027 Super Rugby Women’s season, Collins said planning would begin almost immediately after the current campaign concludes.
“We’ll give ourselves about a week break and then we start planning for 2027 to make it a bigger, better and more competitive competition than ever,” she said.
Collins said the long-term vision is to continue strengthening the competition while creating more opportunities for women and girls to play rugby throughout the region.
