Maud Muir: 'A big thing that we need to do in the women's game is be different to the men'
At the age of 22, England and Gloucester-Hartpury prop Maud Muir already has multiple Six Nations championships and a Rugby World Cup under her belt. In 2027, women will participate in a Lions tour for the first time, which opens up new heights to aspire to for current and future players.
“It would mean a lot [representing the Lions]. I’ve watched the Lions tours growing up,” she said after the announcement of the 2027 women’s Lions tour.
The forward also explained that when she was growing up, her awareness of women’s international rugby was relatively nonexistent and her excitement for playing the game took precedence over representative aspirations, but stressed that the announcement of a women’s Lions tour is a compelling advancement for the sport.
She said: “When I was younger I just played for the enjoyment but watching it more recently, it [Lions] is such an important part of the game and so exciting that there’s a women’s tour coming about in three years’ time. It would be a very cool opportunity.
“When I was much younger playing rugby I didn’t even know that there was an England women’s team, I didn’t have any aspirations to play for England because I didn’t realise it was a thing. I didn’t really mind because I just liked playing rugby.
“However, in the past few years, especially as there has been more talk about the Lions [women’s tour], I have definitely thought that is something that would be really cool and now that it’s actually happening; it’s really exciting for the women’s game in general.”
Muir, who has been named in both of England’s three-day training camps so far this year ahead of the upcoming Guinness Women’s Six Nations squad announcement, looks forward to seeing the growth and improvement of the women’s game in the time between now and the first women’s Lions tour.
“It [having a women’s Lions team] means that the women’s game is improving. Although there has been a lot of debate at the minute that it’s just going to be made up of England players, I think it’s a step in the right direction.
“It’s going to be held in 2027, that’s still a while to go and the women’s game is growing so rapidly that I think it’s fine that we’re still behind the men in professionalism because it is growing so quickly and I think it will be a really exciting tournament when it happens.
“It makes everyone [even England players] work that bit harder. It’s more competitive, you’re not just going for an international shirt. It makes everyone want to work harder and hopefully that just means that the game improves in the next few years.”
The opportunity to be involved with the British and Irish Lions and all that comes with it has additionally sparked excitement about the off-field experiences that such tours present.
“The coolest thing would be playing alongside the people from other nations,” she said. “I love playing at Gloucester-Hartpury because we’ve got all of the Welshies and Irish players and players from other nations there. To be with the best in that Lions team would be incredible. I’m a really big fan of [team] culture, and I think that would be a cool aspect of the tour as well, not just playing the rugby.”
Premiership Women’s Rugby in England regularly sees players from the nations which will make up the British and Irish Lions side in 2027 showing their talent in spades, and as a result, Muir believes that the league will be a key focal point in terms of selection.
“The PWR is a really high standard, sometimes even higher than international games. The way that the [women’s] Lions team will be selected, I think it will be very different from the men’s game when it comes about. In terms of England for the men, they’re contracted to their clubs, but we’re contracted to England. It’s really exciting playing alongside and against other nations [in the PWR], you can see the development of players.”
In addition, she emphasised the importance of women’s rugby continuing to push ahead with professionalism in the coming years at both an international and a club level.
“In the PWR at the minute, there are developments and I think they’ve got a plan over the next ten years to improve the professionalism. The PWR becoming fully professional might not happen in the next three years, but having more players that can do full-time programmes is definitely a step in the right direction as well as all of the Lions nations being professional. We’ve got the English, Welsh, and Scottish, and hopefully the Irish will become fully professional.
“Not just fully professional in terms of contracts, they need more money, they need more stuff in the programme to make it fully professional. It’s all well and good being fully professional, but if you don’t have the resources and everything that goes with it, it doesn’t really count as fully professional.
“The other nations can definitely look at England and take leaves out of their book in their programme because we’re a few years ahead of the others. There are always improvements to be made.”
Muir echoed the thoughts of other players when discussing the location for the first women’s Lions tour, but also expressed ambitions for the women’s game to carve its own path in some aspects.
“Realistically, the Black Ferns are the next best team [behind England] to play, so I think that is the best host country to go against. I’m sure in three years’ time they’ll be even better, so it will be an even more competitive fixture,” she said.
“It would be cool to have a Northern vs Southern Hemisphere fixture or something along those lines in future. I think at the minute, that’s more realistic to get a more competitive fixture and probably a bit more exciting really and something different. I think that’s a big thing that we need to do in the women’s game, is be different to the men. We don’t need to follow exactly what they’re doing. I think it would be really exciting to do a North vs South or something along those lines,” she added.
Royal London is a proud founding partner of the Women’s Lions.
Comments on RugbyPass
What a load of old cobblers… a big arse story heroically making out Enoka to be some sort of a Kiwi Mr Miyagi. Lol… We LOST… I sat next to Enoka years ago as a young adult. When the guy had hair and played a little Volleyball.. Seemed to me back then… like a bloke with a whopping great opinion of himself … and not a lot seems to have changed since back then… except a whole bunch of half wits glorifying the guy for being paid wads of cash for coming up with a few inspiring words in a game we ended up losing…. An indisciplined captain got a red card for a pretty silly tackle… and we were outplayed by 15 south Africans…. We can all sit about offering some fictitious script and pitch heroic twaddle… but the guys few words meant little… I don’t think professional All Black Sportsmen need a shrink to… “point them in the right direction at half time”… think most of those guys deep down realized that 14 guys would result in a loss… love the way they played… but we still lost… and the horror filled AB record of Foster ended… Thank the heavens… with the sane disturbing loss of previous results against the English… Irish…. Agies…… etc… stop waxing the lyrical about deep seated AB emotional bollocks… we got beaten… as Razor said after a previous Foster led thumping of the ABS… All Blacks are not supposed to lose…. I couldn’t help laughing reading this bollocks article
11 Go to commentsI find it amazing that Harry and you can watch so many rugby games in such a short period of time and provide insight. Though the type of insight is different between you too, I do get a more comprehensive picture by reading nd interpreting you both. Clearly, analytically, your work I superior, he adds some “subjective” nuance that makes both of you better. I can’t seem to find the time to watch so much rugby! And also there are some important bike races right now…
1 Go to commentsTrying to dramatise and conjure up tramatic times. We've moved on, time to look forward. No one wants to wallow in the build upto the final, we all kbow what happened!
11 Go to commentsThis article is about 29 words spoken by a fringe member of the coaching staff who is not involved with the team anymore. It reads more like an advert for / endorsement of a service provider by a friendly party. Does the head coach agree with the credit being given to the “mental coach” for the improved 2nd half performance? Different tactics maybe?
11 Go to commentsI would rather Tom Curry was allowed to fully rest his battered body this summer. Note to SB for the future, Daly is best at 13 not on the wing and he is better at 13 than Slade.
1 Go to commentsThe change in tactics contributed more I think.
11 Go to commentsIs this from that cheesy kiwi rip-off of the Chasing the Sun documentary?
11 Go to commentsLet’s face it - even at 14 men the ABs should have won that game. Appalling officiating; they couldn’t even follow their own rules.
11 Go to commentsThe Reds have a problem with Liam Wright being captain unfortunately. He does not have the ability to inspire Queenslanders when the pressure is on.
4 Go to commentsLegends. Epic final by two teams who refused to give up, the better team won. I wish the game would be remembered for that. PSDT’s performance, Jordie Barret, Kolisi…. It was a game for the ages. Let’s not get too wound up by all the bitching and moaning in the comments sections and in the media.
11 Go to commentsIf the Chiefs dont front up in the tight 5, they are toast. With no dominance up front all the DMac wizardry in creation wont save them. Thats been the story if their losses. The slow loss of front row resources overseas and to the Blues and Guzzlers departure has left them shorthanded. I have a feeling last yrs final was their pinnacle. Just flat track bullies now. Reds by 10.
4 Go to commentsTwo super games and great that the first and second teams in the prem will play in the final. I must say though that reading Stuart Barnes article in the Sunday Times on the Bath /Sale game one questioned if he was watching the same game . Ford apparently outplayed Fin Russell. Well Stuart. Read utterly everyone elses opinion and i think you will be somewhat red faced . Bring on the final.
1 Go to commentsMain surprise for me is Mia Venner, a pretty flakey winger, There must be 4 or 5 better wingers than her including Sing, nominally a fullback, who gets no contract.
2 Go to commentsMunster are going to be a tough nut to crack. So far it seems that they soak up the pressure and by patience win in the end.
4 Go to commentsTwo super players Ford and Russell showed some wonderful skills.
1 Go to commentsA cracker of a game. JC Pretorius’s and little van den berg have huge work rates.
2 Go to commentsDannie Gerber - that name brings back memories. He was the maestro of the mid field.
4 Go to commentsDupont may not even be the GOAT in France and has a ways to go to surpass the great #Blanco
35 Go to commentsI’m sure Worcester fans will be as surprised as me to read that Fin Smith came through the Northampton academy.
3 Go to commentsBlitzboks have forgotten how to tackle.
1 Go to comments