Black Ferns: It's the system, not the players who are broken
Just days ago, Black Fern’s player Te Kura Ngata-Aerengamte was brave enough to share her story on social media, explaining she experienced a mental breakdown during the Autumn Internationals.
Specifically, Te explained how over the years comments from head coaches had worn her down:
“My confidence and self-esteem was so low that it made me play like I was walking on egg shells”
For anyone, elite level player or not, to come out and publicly admit these things is incredibly brave, so let’s first start by acknowledging that. Next, we must ask what led to this, and why a player was neglected to such a level that she felt ashamed to even speak out in the first place.
New Zealand Rugby as an organisation is constantly held in high regard for its focus on holistic player welfare. The Black Ferns even had a dedicated mental skills coach on tour with them, which clearly wasn’t enough.
Let me be clear here with my intentions from the off, this should not fall on the players shoulders. We should not allow the organisation to brand this as a personal issue, it is a systematic issue which needs to be addressed on a collective level.
An extremely worrying read from Black Fern Te Kura Ngata-Aerengamate. https://t.co/lddIjaHjsL
— Scrumqueens – Women’s Rugby (@ScrumQueens) December 6, 2021
The system we have in place to support elite athletes’ mental wellbeing clearly isn’t strong enough, in fact I would argue it’s currently non-existent, at all levels of the game not just at the top. We must work as a rugby community to ensure that we are building a sustainable pathway for these women to deal with everything that comes alongside being a high-profile elite level athlete.
The Black Ferns website describes Te as an “established and important member of the Black Ferns”, yet the organisation’s response to her bravery couldn’t have been further from this.
The fact that NZRU came out to question her motivations for turning to social media speaks volumes about their current priorities in the game. As rugby website ScrumQueens so rightly pointed out below, players only do this when they have no other choice or avenue. This isn’t something that is done flippantly, or for attention as some have claimed, this is a serious statement from a player, which couldn’t have been easy to write. People only speak out when they have exhausted all other avenues.
In their reply to Ngata-Aerengamate's posts this week, the NZRU say some of the right things but also take issue with her using social media to air serious issues.
Reminder: Players only do this when they feel they are not being listened to internally. https://t.co/xRZJa3xeeB
— Scrumqueens – Women’s Rugby (@ScrumQueens) December 7, 2021
The post doesn’t make it specifically clear if the comments can be attributed directly to current Black Ferns head coach Glen Moore, but that’s the assumption considering he has been in the role for six years.
I can only hope that a fair investigation is launched into this, and that male privilege isn’t given priority and those at fault are ultimately held accountable for this.
Disappointingly, this behaviour isn’t specific to elite level rugby. I have had countless conversations with multiple different women involved in the grassroots game who have experienced exactly the same thing.
Rugby as a sport is unforgiving, brutal and tough, but that doesn’t mean the coaching has to be. We aren’t asking to be treated like princesses, we can take our fair share of criticism, but what we do deserve, however, is to be treated with a basic amount of respect for what we do.
If coaches have access to full, unaccountable control over a team, there will be severe consequences. We also cannot forget that this game is still largely an old boy’s sport, and with that comes the privilege of protection, especially in grassroots clubs which are often governed by male orientated committees.
That being said, we must also be careful not to tar all male coaches with the same brush. You only need to look over to Simon Middleton as a shining beacon of success. Middleton has led the Red Roses to 18 consecutive wins and has just been appointed World Rugby Coach of the Year, also being the first coach of a women’s team to do so.
18 wins in a row ?
Top of the world rankings ?
Three consecutive Six Nations titles ?@EnglandRugby's Simon Middleton is the World Rugby Coach of the Year#WorldRugbyAwards pic.twitter.com/sVn6xCBuL8— World Rugby (@WorldRugby) December 7, 2021
Going back to the response to Te’s post, something about the corporate reply didn’t sit right with me. It was almost as if the NZRU were attempting to back pedal by suggesting there was a “lot of support available”, which is a classic PR move, to put the onus back on the victim, rather than the wider organisation.
We have seen it before, and will no doubt see it again. When an organisation is called out in public, the first reaction is protection of reputation, and I can say that with confidence from experience working in the PR industry. When in reality, what they should be doing is unashamedly accepting fault, and looking forward to how they can work with her, and others, to ensure this doesn’t happen again.
If you have a player of her status speaking out and saying those things on social media something is seriously flawed underneath it. We must understand how a player got to that point where the support system failed, and where improvements can be made as highlighted in former England player Rachael Burford’s recent column. The mental health culture around the women’s game didn’t break on its own and we need a system that looks after these players long after they finish those 80 minutes on the pitch.
You cannot fix a broken system by putting individual blame on the player, you must instead look to the wider system and ask the difficult questions. It’s not on the players, it’s on the system and the system is broken.
Comments on RugbyPass
Good to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
19 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
7 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
19 Go to commentsHaving overseas possessions in 2024 is absurd. These Frenchies should have to give the New Caledonians their freedom.
21 Go to commentsBell injured his foot didn’t he? Bring Tupou in he’ll deliver when it counts. Agree mostly but I would switch in the Reds number 8 Harry Wilson for Swinton and move Rob Valentini to 6 instead. Wilson is a clever player who reads the play, you can’t outmuscle the AB’s and Springboks, if you have any chance it’s by playing clever. Same goes for Paisami, he’s a little guy who doesn’t really trouble the likes of De Allende and Jordie Barrett. I’d rather play Carter Gordon at 12 and put Michael Lynagh’s boy at 10. That way you get a BMT type goalkicker at 10 and a playmaker at 12. Anyways, just my two cents as a Bok supporter.
14 Go to commentsThanks Brett, love your articles which are alway pertinent. It’s a difficult topic trying to have a panel adjudicating consistently penalties for red card issues. Many of the mitigating reasons raised are judged subjectively, hence the different outcomes. How to take away subjective opinions?
7 Go to commentsYes Sir! Surprising, just like Fraser would also have escaped sanction if he was a few inches lower, even if it was by accident that he missed! Has there really been talk about those sanctions or is this just sensational journalism? I stopped reading, so might have missed any notations.
7 Go to commentsAI is only as good as the information put in, the nuances of the sport, what you see out the corner of the eye, how you sum up in a split second the situation, yes the AI is a tool but will not help win games, more likely contribute to a loss, Rugby Players are not robots, all AI can do if offer a solution not the solution. AI will effect many sports, help train better golfers etc.
45 Go to commentsIt couldn’t have been Ryan Crotty. He wasn’t selected in either World Cup side - they chose Money Bill instead. And Money Bill only cared about himself, and that manager he had, not the team.
26 Go to commentsYawn 🥱 nobody would give a hoot about this new trophy. End of the day we just have to beat Ireland and NZ this year then they can finally shut up 🤐
19 Go to commentsTalking bout Ryan Crotty? Heard Crotty say in a interview once that SBW doesen't care about the team . He went on to say that whenever they lost a big game, SBW would be happy as if nothing happened, according to him someone who cares would look down.. Personally I think Crotty is in the wrong, not for feeling gutted but for expecting others 2 be like him… I have been a bad loser forever as it matters so much to me but good on you SBW for being able to see the bigger picture….
26 Go to commentsThis sounds like a WWE idea so Americans can also get excited about rugby, RUGBY NEEDS A INTERNATIONAL CALENDER .. The rugby Championship and Six Nations can be held at same time, top 3 of six nations and top 3 of Rugby championship (6 nations should include Georgia AND another qualifying country while Fiji, Japan and Samoa/Tonga qualifier should make out 6 Southern teams).. Scrap June internationals and year end tours. Have a Elite top six Cup and the Bottom 6 in a secondary comp….
19 Go to commentsThe rugby championship would be even stronger with Fiji in it… I know it doesen’t fit the long term plans of NZ or Aus but you are robbing a whole nation of being able to see their best players play for Fiji…. Every second player in NZ and AUS teams has Fijian surnames… shame on you!!! World rugby won’t step in either as France and England has now also joined in…. I guess where money is involved it will always be the poor countries missing out….
84 Go to commentsNo surprise there. How hard can it be to pick a ball off the ground and chuck it to a mate? 😂
2 Go to commentsSometimes people just like a moan mate!
7 Go to commentsexcellent idea ! rugby needs this 💪
19 Go to comments9 Brumbies! What a joke! The best performing team in Oz! Ditch Skelton for Swain or Neville. Ryan Lonergan ahead of McDermott any day! Best selection bolter is Toole … amazing player
14 Go to commentsI like this, but ultimately rugby already has enough trophies. Trying to make more games “consequential" might prove to be a fools errand, although this is a less bad idea than some others. Minor quibble with the title of the article; it isn’t very meaningful to say the boks are the unofficial world champions when it would be functionally impossible for the Raeburn trophy not to be held by the world champions. There’s a period of a few months every 4 years when there is no “unofficial” world champion, and the Raeburn trophy is held by the actual world champions.
19 Go to comments