The Irish Rugby Football Union have been compared to an "old boys club" following a report suggesting there is an alarming amount of sexism towards its women's team.
The Irish men's team are ranked No1 in the world. However, the women's side are the only team in the Women's Six Nations who didn't qualify for last year's World Cup.
John Cronin, director of rugby at Railway Union RFC, highlighted the deep-seated issue with women's rugby because of its "archaic" governance and structure.
"An old-boys culture tends to pervade the organisation that can be quite hostile to women's rugby. Women's rugby has come along but they don't know how to care for it, because the governance hasn't evolved," said Cronin.
"On the few occasions when the IRFU has tried to include women, they seem to confuse the difference between diversity and inclusion. Their solution is often to co-opt women who have no role in women's rugby into positions but that's diversity – it's not inclusion.
"Inclusion is including those who represent women's rugby."
Such assertions, according to the IRFU, are "objectively untrue," and the organisation is spending "millions" to advance the women's game on both a professional and grassroots level.
In a statement, they said: "We have seen consistent growth in participation of women and girls, testament to the work going on across the country to attract more females to the game. The IRFU has a dedicated Women's Committee and Women's Advisory Group, who are tasked with overseeing the growth of participation by women and girls in the game."
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