IT WAS ANNOUNCED TODAY BY Ireland's Performance Director David Nucifora that 29 players of the Irish Rugby Women's team have agreed new deal with the IRFU.
The new pro contracts which differ from values of €15,000 to €30,000 per season have been agreed by members of Ireland 7s and 15s internationals. This will also include additional bonuses for match appearances, wins, and tournament fees.
After the IRFU agree deals with the women's XV internationals that will bring the total number of deals agreed to 43.
However, eight women's players have turned down the new deals.
One of the biggest obstacles in agreeing news deal according to Nucifora would be the reloction to Dublin.
Here's the IRFU's David Nucifora on contracts in Irish women's rugby and the new Celtic Cup: https://t.co/TSV2BBucSw
— Murray Kinsella (@Murray_Kinsella) October 27, 2022
Four of the players who turned down the deals are UK-based players and the other four are not based in Dublin, but based in Ireland
"We have offered 37 contracts to date," Nucifora said to the media at the Aviva Stadium.
"We have had an uptake of 29 of those. We have had eight players turn down contacts, four of those are UK-based players and four based here. The four UK-based players are contracted to their [respective clubs] for the amounts of money I mentioned earlier [between £3,000-£10,000 per annum]."
“When you look at the facts behind it is no surprise to us that those earning significant amounts or who have careers have a choice not to train full-time in a professional scenario.
“But what they do have is a model that will cater for them to keep playing the game at the highest level. They will be able to play for the clubs either in England or in Ireland and they will be able to train in a programme that suits their lifestyle at that point in time.
“It was always our intention to come up with a model that works like that.”
