Rugby legends inspire the next generation to dream big – and play fair

IT’S A FREEZING Sunday afternoon at Beccehamian Rugby Club in Kent – not that the players sprinting around appear to have noticed. While their parents are shivering on the sidelines in huge parkas, these teens are sprinting up and down the pitch and cheering each other on. This is a great day to be a rugby player.

Grassroot teams have come together for a festival of rugby ahead of the TikTok Women’s Six Nations, organised by former England international Rachael Burford’s Girls Rugby Club.

Judging by the roar from coaches, supporters, referees and the players themselves, it’s all going great guns.

Excitement levels are heightened by the gloss of celebrity. Three hugely popular rugby stars have given taster coaching sessions to the teams before their games (along with bragging rights for each player).

The three women are England international veterans and were part of the 2014 World Cup-winning team that broke England’s 20-year drought on the title: Girls Rugby Club’s Rachael Burford, Rochelle “Rocky” Clark and Marlie Packer, co-captain of the England squad who will shortly be heading to the TikTok Women’s Six Nations to defend their title.

Busting the myth

At 5ft 5in, Packer is a compact member of the back row, which underlines the fact that rugby can be for everyone.

“I was running out onto the pitch once with my niece, who was team mascot,” she laughs. “She’s so tall that the TV cameras couldn’t get me in shot!”

At Beccehamian Rugby Club, you can easily keep track of Packer’s movements by the sound of excited players. Whispers and cheering break out wherever she goes, shortly followed by photo requests.

It’s why the stars are here, to make the players’ day and to help develop a sense of the importance of fair play among the next generation of players.

Encouraging younger players is a key point for Packer, who joined Yeovil’s Ivel Barbarians when she was five. Her son Oliver, still only two, is already getting comfortable on the pitch.

“Oliver was mascot for our first England game after the death of the Queen,” she says. “To sing both national anthems, and to sing God Save the King for the first time with him there – you can’t ask for more.”

Role models

Sportsmanship is a key part of rugby, and key to developing the men and women who can provide leadership and support in other areas of their lives.

It’s something that today’s visiting player-coaches are keen to underline for their young charges, and their parents, and which any international player knows only too well. After the matches finish and each team poses for a photo with their opponents, cheering loudly, that message is clear.

Festival hosts Beccehamian Rugby Club take the trophy over rivals Ashford Rugby Club Girls, and after the celebrations, the home team sits down with Packer to discuss rugby fandom in the digital age.

“Hands up who uses TikTok,” she asks, and a forest of hands shoot up. Major players from the men’s and women’s Six Nations teams are taking part in the platform’s #SwipeOutHate campaign, which seeks to promote sportsmanship and a safe place for all rugby fans to enjoy the tournament while showing them how to report content and comments.

The campaign is especially focused on families and fans who TikTok is keen to educate about the platform’s industry-leading safety features.

Packer asks if anyone has encountered any bad behaviour online, and the team captain speaks up.

“You see someone having fun and then comments from people being really judgmental and bringing them down,” she says. “There’s just no need, and I don’t think they understand the effect of it.”

“We’re all a team here, and trying to make it better and safer,” agrees Packer. “Not just for younger people but for older generations too. Sportsmanship from the pitch extends into everyday life.”

Stepping in

Packer adds a new element to her coaching, this time showing the team how to report comments and content on TikTok, by making a long press on an offensive video or comment to bring up a report form they can use to quickly communicate the issue to TikTok’s team.

As in real life, encouraging positive and responsible behavior, such as flagging racist language or hate speech, is something any parent would be proud of their teen for doing.

TikTok has 40,000 safety professionals working with the government, NGOs and third-party organisations to continually improve and evolve the safety of its users, while built-in features allow parents and teens to work together to determine safe app usage.

If anything is clear from the confident, articulate teens playing today, it is that the future of rugby is in safe hands.

To join the conversation, visit tiktok.com/safety and discover more about how you can help to #SwipeOutHate on TikTok