In the face of increasing bans on transgender athletes in competitive sports, professional women’s rugby players have responded with a resounding: “Ruck you.”
Sasha Acheson, a professional English rugby player, wanted to stage a protest in response to World Rugby, which became the first international sports federation to ban trans women at an elite level in 2020, citing “significant” safety concerns.
According to The Telegraph, World Rugby’s decision was based on data that showed “at least a 20-30% greater risk” of injury when a female player is tackled by someone who has gone through male puberty.
But Acheson and her peers know that trans women are women, and they deserve an equal opportunity to play.
So, Acheson organized “The Ruck You Match,” which put trans players toe to toe with cisgender women to disprove the supposed threat trans athletes present to their cis counterparts.
And it took place on June 1, kicking off Pride Month in Oslo, Norway.
The match set out to challenge the perception that trans women have physical advantages over cis women, with seven trans women playing against seven cisgender international women’s rugby players.
The score ended at 34-7, with the cis women scoring 34 points, and the trans women seven points when, towards the end of the game, they made “one pivotal change,” according to social media posts by the organizers: “When trans women and cis women mixed teams and came together.”
Leading up to the match, organizers also shared important statistics on social media to debunk inaccurate claims, showing that there were zero recorded injuries by trans women rugby players.
They also broke down the impact of World Rugby’s policies on athletics globally, which have now led to heavily politicized debates about trans women athletes worldwide.
“It’s not just about the facts. It’s about these teams showing up and physically playing against each other. It’s about this group of cis women showing that they’re not afraid to play against trans women, that they don’t want this,” sports commentator Coach Jackie J said in a video.
“When you watch this match, it’s just like watching any other women’s rugby match — and women’s rugby is a very physical game, which more so proves that the point that trans women aren’t a threat.”
Not only did an enthusiastic crowd support this event, but pro rugby players also chimed in on social media.
“I’m supporting the Ruck You match because this game is built on women of all shapes and sizes, different backgrounds, different stories, and I know sport has the power to make this change,” Red Roses player and Olympian Meg Jones shared on social media.
“[Rugby] is incredible because it’s inclusive, communities come together and any shape, any size can play it,” added Poppy Cleall of the Red Roses.
“That’s why I love rugby and that’s why I hope rugby continues to be that safe space for people, that place where anyone can feel like they can come to and be supported. Teamwork is so vital in rugby and this is an opportunity for me to say, ‘I have your back.’”
Alix Fitzgerald was one of just a few trans rugby players who became ineligible to play female community rugby in England after the country’s Rugby Football Union followed in World Rugby’s footsteps, banning trans women from the game in 2022.
According to The Telegraph, there were believed to be six transgender women playing community rugby at the time of the ban.
“For me, rugby is an embodiment of physicality, of being present in the world,” Fitzgerald said in a video ahead of the match. “I am out and I am proud. I could have taken a different route. I could have said absolutely nothing and gone and played rugby … but I didn’t because that’s not the right thing to do. I’m here because I love this sport. I love these people I play with.”
“Forming community around rugby has been the core of my adult life,” another trans team member, Maddison, shared on social media before the game. “To join with cis women and trans women on the pitch together is as natural as I can imagine.”
The match was believed to be the first of its kind, staged at the International Gay Rugby Cup. The players also ran a fundraiser on GoFundMe to fuel the game, with any additional donations going to Good Law Project in their fight against the U.K. Supreme Court’s recent ruling on the definition of “woman.”
And when the players got off the field on Sunday, drenched in sweat, smiles plastered on their cheeks, Fitzgerald was just one of countless women united in the bond of sisterhood.
“It’s really hard to describe what the sensation is like,” Fitzgerald said in a post-game interview, covering her face as she cried. “To do a thing that you love with people you just look up to … it’s just life. Just to run around on a stupid field in Oslo and just have fun with people, it’s life. That’s all.”
Header image courtesy of Rugby For All
