URC chief wants a women's competition 'sooner rather than later'

The United Rugby Championship are exploring the possibility of creating a women's competition, according to their CEO Martin Anayi.

And while discussions and planning are still at a very early stage, the chief executive says its development is very much a priority for the league.

"I was speaking to stakeholders about that yesterday," Anayi said, when asked about the possibility of a Women's URC.

"We have just over half of our employee base who are women, we had a strategy day the other day and asked everyone what are the top three things you want to see the URC do over the next five years, and a women's competition came in everyone's top three.

"There's a real push, I don't think it's necessarily reacting to the market, it just feels like we should have a women's competition."

With attendances increasing in this year's Women's Six Nations, in large part down to an unstoppable English team, the knock-on effect has seen other unions forced to get their house in order in a bid to play catch-up.

There has been increased pressure on the IRFU to create professional contracts for women's XV players, with head coach Greg McWilliams revealing that it is in the pipeline in the near future.

Playing contracts will also be an issue for any potential Women's URC to address, according to the tournament CEO Anayi (below), who says they he believes their competition could boost the profile of the women's game even further.

"I've done a lot of work recently asking all of our clubs and unions, because obviously we don't pay central contracts at URC, we're a tournament organiser, we promote and market games but don't pay the players.

"What's really important is what are our unions doing at the moment, what's their plan? How can we help generate a