James Haskell has been accused of disrespecting women's rugby players after telling a top rugby player to "have a day off" when she corrected a social media post that didn't include England's women internationals.
Bristol Bears Women loosehead prop Simi Pam, who plays in England's top women's rugby competition, took issue with an Instagram post from The Good, The Bad And The Rugby podcast - fronted by Haskell, Mike Tindall and Alex Payne - which listed England's most-capped front-rowers. But, as most-capped women's rugby player Rochelle 'Rocky' Clark was absent from the list, Pam called out the fact the post did not explicitly say it was referring to male players only.
Former England back-rower Haskell, 37, soon told Pam to "have a day off", and it is the response to this correction which has seen Haskell come in for criticism rather than the mistake itself. He went on to claim to have done "more for the growth of the women’s game than anyone", referencing the spin-off podcast about women’s rugby, The Good, The Scaz and The Rugby which launched last year. It is hosted by Red Roses centurion Emily Scarratt, Tindall and broadcaster Elma Smit.
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Bristol front-rower Pam, who balances elite rugby with her job as a full-time NHS doctor, had said: "I think you meant to say 'most England caps - MALE front row forwards'. Please stop disrespecting the women like this. Because [the] way you've named this list, we know Rocky Clark tops it. Please do better".
As for Haskell's response, Pam - who is team-mate to a host of Wales internationals including captain Siwan Lillicrap, flyer Jasmine Joyce and flanker Alisha Butchers in the Allianz Premier 15s - said: "As a current player in the Allianz Premier 15s (about to play in the semi-finals next weekend), your response is so disappointing. And as someone who has been a guest on your spinoff show [The Good, The Scaz & The Rugby podcast] hearing that this is how you respond to being corrected for a mistake is very telling. I won't have a day off - why don't you just do better and stop disrespecting your female fan base and their role models?"
Pam, 27, later told her Twitter followers: "Pretty disappointing that this is the response I got for correcting a mistake that GBR made on a (now deleted) post. Like it or not, the most capped front rower (and England player full stop) is a woman. It’s Rocky Clark. Don’t shoot the messenger for pointing out your oversight".
The initial post from the podcast's official account - which has more than 80,000 followers - was deleted and re-uploaded to Instagram late on Sunday night with the addition of the word "men's" in the graphic, while the caption said of the matter: "We got our post wrong earlier. Here's a better one".
But Haskell appeared to insist there was nothing wrong with the original post - which was a paid partnership with City Index UK - further replying to Pam: "We have done more to champion women's rugby than anyone else. We created a show called Good Scaz Rugby all about the female game. If we were talking on that show we would have said women, female whatever you wanted. By making a fuss over stuff like this you weaken your point and actually set yourselves back. Pick your battles and try to be positive."
World Cup winner Clark, who would have topped the list of England's most-capped front-rowers, mocked the graphic - which includes a photo of ex-England skipper Dylan Hartley throwing a sideways stare at Steve Thompson - by writing over it: "The way Rocky Clark looks at James Haskell when they leave her out of the most capped front row list".
She is the most-capped England rugby union international and women's rugby player in history, amassing 137 Test appearances before retiring in 2018.
When Ben Youngs was about to surpass World Cup-winning prop Jason Leonard's cap record of 114 against Wales in the 2022 Six Nations, reporting of the milestone often omitted Clark altogether in reference to England's most-capped player but shifted in the days leading up to the occasion to reflect Youngs was setting a new men's record.
