SA Rugby president calls for mindset change to women's sport, instead of 'grandeur statements'

SA Rugby president Mark Alexander called for a mindset change towards women's sport instead of the myriad "grandeur statements" that are all the rage in the country.

Banyana Banyana's victory at the Women's African Cup of Nations could provide a catalyst for speedy transformation of women's sports, with calls growing loud for professionalism and sufficient funding, similar to the men.

The conversation grew legs when Lara van Niekerk, Tatjana Schoenmaker, Kaylene Corbett and the rest of the Team SA swimming team kept women achievers in the national conversation.

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Then, as if sensing the usual grandstanding by politicians and administrators would taper out as always, Ashleigh Buhai made history by winning the Women's Open at Muirfield in Scotland.

It has been one of the most outstanding periods for South African women's sport, topped off by the Springbok Women securing a title sponsor, FNB, days after winning their first Test overseas in beating Japan 20-10 in Kumagaya last Saturday.

However, Alexander was stern that the time for talking was over and that corporates needed to dig into their pockets and sports fans needed to show their active support for women.

"We say women are important, we've said a lot about women's sport … women are the architects of our society but do little about supporting them from a financial point of view and a moral point of view," Alexander said at FNB's reveal.

"People don't really come out and support them in person. All of us need to change our mindset and support the women's game.

"The funding is skewed from corporates. In order for us to have a strong professional league, we need to build a business case and we need funders to put money into the