For years, rugby has apparently come with an invisible sign at the gate: “No girls allowed.” The reasoning? Vague. The logic? Questionable. The evidence? Non-existent.
Somewhere along the line, rugby was labelled a “boys’ game” too physical, too rough, too demanding. As if strength, courage, teamwork, resilience, and tactical intelligence were traits issued exclusively at birth to anyone wearing a Y chromosome.
If rugby truly were “for boys only,” then someone forgot to tell the thousands of women and girls currently lacing up their boots, running drills in the rain, getting back up after tackles, and rewriting the narrative every single weekend.
Because here’s the inconvenient truth for the stereotype: women aren’t just playing rugby, they’re growing the game faster than anyone else.
Let’s swap outdated opinions for actual numbers.
In New South Wales alone, junior female rugby participation grew by 8.24% from 2024 to 2025. Senior female participation? Up by an even more impressive 10.96% in the same period. When you zoom out, overall female participation increased by 9.5% in just one year. In comparison to males who only had a 0.05% increase over the same period.
That’s not a trend. That’s momentum.
More females are playing rugby now than ever before, and all signs point to that growth continuing. These numbers represent girls discovering the game for the first time, women returning after time away, and players finally seeing pathways that were once invisible.
This isn’t a side story in rugby’s future. It is the future.
The idea that rugby is only for boys doesn’t come from the game itself, it comes from tradition, access, and visibility.
For decades, girls weren’t given the same opportunities to play. Fewer teams, less funding, limited media coverage, and almost no professional pathways meant talent went unnoticed or unsupported. When you don’t see people like you on the field, it’s easy to believe you don’t belong there.
But belonging was never the issue. Opportunity was.
Now that doors are opening at grassroots, junior, and senior levels, girls are walking through them in numbers that make one thing clear: the interest was always there.
The growth in NSW isn’t just about numbers, it’s about normalisation. Girls playing rugby is no longer surprising. It’s expected. It’s celebrated. It’s becoming part of the sport’s identity rather than an exception to it. And the more normal it becomes, the faster it grows.
So, is Rugby exclusive to Boys Only?
Only if you ignore the data.
Only if you ignore the players.
Only if you ignore the future.
Rugby belongs to anyone willing to show up, commit to their teammates, and give their best, regardless of gender. The pitch doesn’t care who you are. The ball doesn’t discriminate. And the game is better, stronger, and more exciting when everyone has a place in it.
Women and girls aren’t just joining rugby, they’re shaping it. And if that makes some old myths uncomfortable, that’s probably a good thing.
