By Kate Rowan
The Rugby Football Union (RFU) has confirmed that contracts for women's XVs players will not be renewed after England defend their Women's Rugby World Cup title in Ireland next month.
The governing body is prioritising the Sevens programme after the World Cup, with England's retired World Cup winner Maggie Alphonsi declaring the non-renewal of the XVs contracts was "very disappointing".
Labour MPs including MP for Gower, Tonia Antoniazzi, a former Wales women's rugby international, Barbara Keeley, the Shadow Minister for Mental Health and Social Care and MP for Wirral South Alison McGovern, also hit out at the decision:
It was reported in The Rugby Paper that XVs players were only recently made aware that their contracts would not be renewed for 2071/18 season. However, RFU Director of Professional Rugby Melville stressed that players were made aware of the changes.
"The women's squad were always aware that contracts would end in September, after the World Cup. The current XVs squad was informed in April that the next contracts will be focused on sevens, reflecting the cyclical nature of the women's game.
"The squad fully understands the position and are focused on the World Cup in Ireland next month."
England head coach Simon Middleton named a 28 player squad to travel to Dublin and Belfast next month. England are the only nation participating in the tournament to give their players contracts of this nature, so they could focus solely on World Cup preparation.
The governing body explained there would be a return to contracts for XVs players in preparation for the next Women's Rugby World Cup.
Other unions such as New Zealand, Ireland and Australia have players on Sevens contracts as part of their World Cup squads.
The focus in the aftermath of the coming tournament will switch to the Sevens game with both the Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast and the Rugby World Cup Sevens in San Francisco taking place next year followed by the Olympic Games in Tokyo 2020.
Ahead of the 2016/17 season it was announced that 48 female players would be contracted to the RFU. Sixteen players were awarded full-time contracts with a focus on the 15-a-side game.
There are 16 short-term contracts, allowing players to come into residential camps ahead of the Six Nations and the Women's Rugby World Cup. This paid dividends during the Six Nations with England winning the Grand Slam.
A further 16 players were reported to be on part-time, three-day-a-week contracts geared towards sevens.