Clash of the gladiators thrills the World Cup

Brendan Gallagher delves into some of rugby’s most enduring images, their story and why they are still so impactful

What’s happening here?

It’s August 9, 2014 and England are playing Canada in a pool game at the Women’s Rugby World Cup at France’s National Rugby centre in Marcoussis. England centre Emily Scarratt, one of their talismanic players, is blasting her way upfield but fleet-footed Canada wing Megali Harvey has chased her down to make an important tackle. A feisty game ended with England, one of the favourites to win the tournament, being held to a 13-13 draw by the Canadians, a result which saw both advance to the semi-finals with perennial champions New Zealand missing out after losing one of their pool games to Ireland.

What’s the story behind the picture?

At heart it’s very simple. Two women and exceptional athletes enjoying the sport they love.Scarratt, born into a rugby loving farming family in Leicestershire, excelled at hockey and basketball – she was offered a basketball scholarship in the USA at the age of 16 – but preferred to stay home to play rugby and qualify as a PE graduate at Leeds Metropolitan University. At the time of this photograph she was a PE assistant at King Edward’s School, Birmingham.

Harvey was majoring in athletics until she attended St Francis Xavier University and had never encountered the sport when she was introduced to rugby at the age of 18. She instantly shone and was soon combining her Canada career with studying for a business administration future.

What happened next?

In terms of the tournament itself it was onwards and upwards for both women. Scarratt kicked 13 points in England’s 40-7 semi-final win over Ireland at Stade Jean Bouin in Paris while Harvey scored a sensational length-of-the-field try in their 18-16 win over hosts France at the same venue. Stade Bouin was a 17,500 sellout for that game and days later there was another capacity crowd to witness England’s 21-9 win over the Canadians to take their first World Championship since 1994. Scarratt scored the clinching England try and also contributed 11 points from the boot.

In terms of women’s rugby, history will show this was a pivotal moment. The big crowds at Jean Bouin lapped the action up, as did TV viewers around the world. Women’s rugby was a fine spectacle with elite athletes putting in the hard yards and showing exceptional skills. In fact it had been for many years but that was not the general perception and until this point the media coverage had sometimes felt agenda led, sceptical and looking for novelty angles. From this moment onwards women’s rugby has been judged as an entity in itself, a sport that must stand or fall by its own merits.

Women’s rugby has kicked on wonderfully since 2014. Elite players who had previously been trying to juggle student studies or full-time careers with playing were able to turn professional. They don’t earn a fortune but it helps. The women’s Sevens tournament at Rio 2016 was a major success and will be again in Tokyo later this month.

There are still challenges and issues. The gap between the best professional national teams and amateur opponents is widening and long term that is not healthy, but overall the graph goes ever upwards. The Premier 15s have been up and running for three seasons now, women referees and TMOs are breaking through into the elite men’s game and pundits like Nollie Waterman and Maggie Alphonsi – both colleagues of Scarratt in 2014 – are on our screens most weeks.

Why is the picture iconic?

Scarratt is an iconic player, both for England and the wider development of the Women’s game, and we don’t lack for images of her but I particularly like this snap for its athletic dynamism and gladiatorial qualities. Scarratt is first and foremost a great athlete and you can feel and see the power of her legs and torso. Strong but graceful and a natural ball player. Meanwhile the chasing Harvey, a natural-born sprinter who would surely have shone brightly on the track, has arrived at huge pace to make the lastditch tackle. You can almost hear the screech of brakes as she readjusts to go in low and make the challenge.

Then there is the gladiatorial element and an almost industrial feel to the picture. The tough world of elite Women’s rugby is no different to the Men’s game. Broken bones, snapped ligaments, pulled muscles. Pain. Effort. Ticker.

Scarratt, as she always does, is wearing her trademark padded knee protectors/compression stockings which were quite a novelty then although I notice recently that Premiership footballers seem to be copying her. Then on her right leg the physio has been busy strapping up a white support for her knee and on top of that there is a further strapping for a thigh or quadricep strain. Scarratt has survived many battles but is still ready for war.

Footnote: In January 2015 Scarratt received the Pat Marshall trophy for 2014, voted for by members of the Rugby Writers club and awarded to their outstanding rugby personality, worldwide. She was also made an MBE in the 2021 Birthday Honours list. Harvey was named as the IRB Women’s player of the year for 2014 and her semi-final try against France was, at the end 2019, named as the Women’s try of the decade.