women's game in england could be fully professionalised as early as the coming season accordng to the rfuown. contracts for the women's 15s squad were not renewed after the 2017 world cup with the rfu controversially choosing to prioritise the sevens players instead. but brown has told bbc sport, the women's game is now top of their list of priorities. we are very keen to professionalise the women's game. to have a half and half situation for the last season. as quickly as we can afford it. the women's game is not completely commercialised yet. that is not enough to fund an entire programme. what we need to do now is identified money. we spend everything we make in supporting the game so we have two reprioritise. great britain's becky downie will make her return to competition at next month's european championships in glasgow. the former european champion hasn't competed since tearing a ligament in her elbow during a fall at last year's event in romania. she admits there were times she wasn't sure if she'd be able to compete again. being a bar specialists, it was scary. there was a moment

so i asked to the rfu's director of professional services, nigel melville what the plans entail. injury statistics and rugby union over the la st statistics and rugby union over the last few years, and that steady increase is a concern that we want to try and deal with if we can. 47% of injuries in the game are caused in the tackle area and that is a concern for us. let's have a look at that and see what we can do. they are trying to stop any contact, rightly so, above the neckline. looking deeper, 80% of concussions are calling on the tackle of which 70% are to the tackler, the guy making the tackle, so it is important we looked at the tackle area and one of the ideas was to lower the height of the level. a lot of people are slipping off shoulders and to heads, and if we lower it to below the armpits maybe it'll make a difference. did you speak to players first? what did they think of the proposals? players are interested in everything that helps with their safety and inability to play the game safely, so they are prepared to have a goal, and the same with cultures. it is a play

contracts for the women's 15s squad were not renewed after the 2017 world cup with the rfu controversiallyprioritise the 7s players instead. but brown has told bbc sport, the women's game is now top of their list of priorities. we are very keen to professionalise the women's game. our rendition is to professionalise both servers and 15 is. we have had a half and a half situation for the past couple of seasons. our ambition is to do that, as soon as you can seasons. our ambition is to do that, as soon as you can possibly afford it, is the key. it is not commercialised, fully, yet. we are ina gay commercialised, fully, yet. we are in a gay great position with the permission, it is the first direct position we have got for the women's game, but it is not enough to fund the whole programme. we need to identify that money, spent everything that we make, invest it all in the game, so we got to re—prioritise something else to put it into the women's game. great britain's becky downie will make her return to competition at next month's european championships in glasgow. the former european champio

for weekends and paid for the kit and things like that and now you have such good backing from the rfu the professionalism from the girls has been huge and itjust has been so good to be a part of it and help make history. what you think needs be done to move the women came forward , be done to move the women came forward, you obviously have the new premiership in the women's game but what at test level needs to be done to push the game forward? other nations are now going professional andi nations are now going professional and i think we have to go professional, we need the time to recover and get the time, get the hours in training and i think that is simply what we have to do, to go professional. i think that will be the big stepping stone hopefully in the big stepping stone hopefully in the near future. what has been the best at about being an england player, winning 137 best at about being an england player, winning137 caps for your country? lifting the world cup, that has been amazing, the best day of my life but making friends along the way, at pulling on that white shirt is jus

this is only for the rfu championship cup.s going to take some getting used to. given the sensitivities around dangers in by the sensitivities around dangers in rugby union something like this is worth trialling. thank you. that's all the sport for now. in the last few minutes, the supreme court has ruled that a woman, tini owens, can't divorce her husband of more than a0 years. remind us about this case as well as the ruling. tini owens was married to her husband in 1978, this is a a0—year marriage. she originally petitioned for divorce arguing that his behaviour towards her was such that she couldn't reasonably be expected to continue to live with him. under our divorce law, you have to prove the marriage has broken down irretrievably but you have to rely on one of five particular fa cts . rely on one of five particular facts. the one she relied on was that his behaviour towards her was so unreasonable that she shouldn't be reasonably expected to continue to live with him. it was that particular ground that was under the mic

and this is only for the rfu championship cup competition, the leak as a whole is still being played be a bedding in period from week to week and it will take some getting used to. but given the sensitivities around the dangers in the sport at the moment something like this is worth trialling. chris jones. serena williams has accused anti—doping authorities of discrimination after getting tested again yesterday. the 23—time major winner has been tested more than any other player this year according to figures from the us anti—doping agency. williams has questioned the frequency of her tests, but added that she's happy to do whatever she can to keep the sport clean. the new arsenal boss unai emery says he wants to club to feel ‘like home‘ for mesut 0zil following his row with the german fa. 0zil retired from international football this week, citing "racism and disrespect” after he was photographed with the controversial turkish president erdogan. he's now on a pre—season tour of singapore with arsenal, and has the support of his team mates and manager. as a team we support him, we are

the times newspapers as the rfu will trial a law ina newspapers as the rfu will trial a law in a competition gold medal winning hockey player sam quek says female athletes should be able to look good without being sexualised. in an article on the bbc sport website, sam, part of the winning team in rio in 2016, said female sports people shouldn't have to perhaps take their clothes off sometimes to be successful, or to get well known. that is something that she says has happened to her in the past. 0ne thing she found very disconcerting was when the papers were doing biographies of the team, lots of them suggested she was a swimwear model. it was just, them suggested she was a swimwear model. it wasjust, like, completely... she wasn't. she is a hockey player. whilst most football teams are still in pre—season, there's competitive football for celtic as they try to qualify for the group stages of the champions league. they play norwegian champions rosenborg in the first leg of their second qualifying round tie, but boss brendan rodgers says the games shouldn't be played so early. managers and p

this is only for the rfu championship cup, addition, the championship cup, addition, the championshiping in period from week to week. it will ta ke period from week to week. it will take a bit of getting used to. but given the sensitivities around changes in rugby union at the moment something like this is certainly worth trialling. that was chris jones earlier. serena williams has accused anti—doping authorities of discrimination after getting tested once more yesterday. the 23 time major winner has been tested more than any other player this year said figures from the anti—doping agency. she's questioned the frequency of the tests yet adds that she is happy to do what you can to keep the sport clea n. to do what you can to keep the sport clean. new arsenal boss unai emery says he wants the club to feel like home for the mess that i was ill following his row with the german fa. —— mesut ozil. the player retired from international football this exciting disrespect after a controversial photograph ta ken this exciting disrespect after a controversial photograph taken with the president

and coaches and referees will have to adapt very quickly, and just to reiterate, this is only for the rfuas a whole is still being played with the traditional laws if you like. there will be a real bedding in period from week to week, it will ta ke in period from week to week, it will take a federative getting used to, but given the sensitivities around dangers in rugby union at the moment something like this is certainly worth trialling. interesting to see how it works in the second tier cup competition next season. sports men and women are used to the idea of drug testing, but serena williams has had a go at the way it is carried out. strong words from serena williams. by common consent considered the greatest woman player of all time. she has accused anti—doping authorities of discrimination after being tested again yesterday. the 23 time major winner has been tested more than any other player this year, according to figures from the us anti—doping agency. williams has questioned the pregnancy of the tests but has added she is happy to do whatever she can to keep the sport clean. this