Historic and deserved, the Black Ferns success at the World Rugby Awards is a wake-up call to global sport
Let’s just say it out loud for those in the back of the room: World Rugby, the body charged with running the game of Rugby Union around the globe, just handed its Team of the Year honour to the Black Ferns. The amateur New Zealand women’s team comprised of, among other things, students, teachers and police officers, who used the story of a white mouse to inspire a World Cup triumph.
Holy shit, there is a lot to get your head around there. So, let’s just start at the top and work our way through it. First up, this is the first time in history that a women’s team has won this award. For those who don’t think that’s much of a big deal, remember this: they weren’t crowned the Women’s Team of the Year; they are THE team of the year. In other words, a global sport that is predominated by men just asserted that women are not only their equal but are in this instance superior in terms of the merits of their performance.
REACTION: Portia Woodman, on how the @BlackFerns have helped to inspire the next generation of women's players #WorldRugbyAwards pic.twitter.com/vHyB063Yxu
— World Rugby (@WorldRugby) November 26, 2017
The assertion is accurate. The Black Ferns lost just once this season, against England on the same cold, wet June night the Maori All Blacks played the British and Irish Lions at Rotorua’s International Stadium. They avenged that loss with a dramatic 41-32 victory in the women’s world cup final in Belfast in August – a match watched by an estimated 2.65 million viewers on Britain’s ITV network – then came home and spent the next several months appearing at everything their work commitments allowed them to, inspiring the next generation to put on the boots.
During that World Cup tournament, the Black Ferns scored more than 20 per cent of the total number of tries, almost 20 per cent of the total number of points, maintained a life-long perfect record against England (the only team at this year’s event that boasted a full-time professional roster) in World Cup play and showcased the skills of the eventual women’s world player of the year – Portia Woodman, who scored the most tries, ran the most metres, made the most clean breaks and beat the most defenders.
To understand what drives the Black Ferns one must remember all that is good about the game (which is to put to one side the recent men’s World Cup hosting rights voting debacle) and everything that is wrong with it – and think about fundamentals: spirit, fair play, camaraderie, passion, pride, and the notion that the team is always bigger than the individual. The Black Ferns never once complained publicly about resources, allowances, pay parity, or the delicate balancing act of combining sport and work. They sure could have, but they did not.
Instead, they and their management team fostered a team-first ethos that was equal parts hard work – this correspondent had to watch the team warm up before the Canadian test in Wellington through his fingers, such was the intensity of the contact drills – and hard case, as anyone who has spent 30 seconds around Victoria Subritzky-Nafatali would attest to. They delighted in their place as the last of the amateurs, as they surely must now be considered.
The story of their inspiration says so much about their own sense of selflessness. It was none other than Nancy Wake, the New Zealand-born resistance heroine of the Second World War, in whom the Black Ferns found their touch stone. The same Nancy Wake who, at the tender age of 89, was quoted as saying “I’ve never been scared in my life.” The same Nancy Wake who once cycled 500 kilometres through German checkpoints to replace secret codes. The Black Ferns were rugby’s guerrilla fighters in the professional age, and now you know why they call the World Cup “Nancy”.
And the world now knows that rugby can claim to be a leader in world sport’s quest to ensure women are afforded the same respect as the boys when it comes to their performance. As CSM CEO Simon Porter wrote today for The Spinoff, this is the start – investment must follow respect and the returns will then be there for all.
For today though, we celebrate the Black Ferns and we celebrate this historic victory on rugby’s biggest night. It is win for this wonderful team, but it is also a win for women athletes in team sports the world over. It is a wake-up call to every other game that marketing dollars and merit are not the same thing.
It is probably fitting that the last word on this should go to the woman who inspired the Black Ferns campaign. Wake greatly lamented her portrayal in a 1987 mini-series about her life, but one of her many criticisms says it all. In a conversation about the programme she says,
“At one stage they had me cooking bacon and eggs to feed the men. For goodness sake, did the Allies parachute me into France to fry eggs and bacon for the men? There wasn’t an egg to be had for love nor money, and even if there had been, why would I be frying it?
“I had men to do that sort of thing.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Hats off to Fabian for a very impressive journey to date. Is it as ‘uniquely unlikely’ as Rugby Pass suggests, given Anton Segner’s journey at the Blues?
1 Go to commentsSad that this was not confirmed. When administrators talk about expanding the game they evidently don’t include pathways to the top tier of rugby for teams outside of the old boys club. Rugby deserves better, and certainly Georgia does.
1 Go to commentsLions might take him on if they move on Van Rooyen but I doubt he will want to go back, might consider it a step backwards for himself. Sharks would take him on but if Plumtree goes on to win the challenge cup they will keep him on. Also sharks showing some promising signs recently. Stormers and Bulls are stable and Springboks are already filled up. Quality coach though, interesting to see where he ends up
1 Go to commentsAnd the person responsible for creating a culture of accountability is?
2 Go to commentsMore useless words from Ben Smith -Please get another team to write about. SA really dont need your input, it suck anyway.
264 Go to commentsThis disgraceful episode must result in management and coach team sackings. A new manager with worse results than previous and the coaching staff need to coached. Awful massacre led by donkeys.
1 Go to commentsInteresting article with one glaring mistake. This sentence: “And between the top four nations right now, Ireland, France, South Africa, and New Zealand…” should read: And between the top four nations right now, South Africa, Ireland, New Zealand and France…”. Get it right wistful thinkers, its not that hard.
23 Go to commentsHow did Penny get the gig anyway?
2 Go to commentsNice write up Nick and I would have agreed a week ago. However as you would know Cale & co got absolutely monstered by the Blues back row of Sotutu, Ioane and Papaliti and not all of these 3 are guaranteed a start in the Black jumper. He may need to put some kgs before stepping up, Spring tour? After the week end Joe will be a bit more restless. Will need to pick a mobile tough pack for Wales and hope England does the right thing and bashes the ABs. I like your last paragraph but I would bring Swinton, Hannigan into the 6 role and Bobby V to 8
21 Go to commentsThe Crusaders can still get in to the Play Off’s. The imminent return of outstanding captain Scott Barrett and his All Black team mate Codie Taylor will be a big boost.There are others like Tamaiti Williams too. Two home games coming up. Fellow Crusader fans get there and support these guys. I will be.
1 Go to commentsCant get more Wellington than Proctor.
2 Go to commentsWhy not let the media decide. Like how they choose the head coach. Like most of us we entrust the rugby system to choose. A rugby team includes the coaches. It's collective.
13 Go to commentsHi NIck, I have been very impressed with him and he seems a smart player who can see opportunities which Bobby V _(who must be an international 6_) doesn’t see or have the speed to take advantage of. If he continues to improve and puts on 5kgs then he could be a great 8. He is a bit taller than Keiran Reid at 1.93m and 111 kgs, so his skill set fits his body size and who knows where it will lead. I hope the spate of Achilles tendon issues have been dealt with by the S&C people. It’s been a very long time since Mark Loane and Kefu stood out at 8. The question is will we be able to hold onto him, if he does make it he will be pretty hot property. I disagree with the idea of letting them go to the Northern Hemisphere and then bring them back.
21 Go to commentsBilly Fulton 🤣🤣🤣🤣 garrrmon not even close
13 Go to commentsDoes the AI take into account refs? hahaha Seriously why not have two on field refs to avoid bias?
23 Go to commentsVern challenging this Blues side might be the edge they need to fulfill their potential. Convincing results from strong D and strong carries are hard to argue against.
1 Go to commentsLove seems to add a strong back field defense with speed to close the gap and tackle to his ability to attack, kick and pass (an accurate long pass). This sets him an edge over some of the other names - JRK in particular. Has to be said that Jordan and Stevenson have also been exposed defensively while Love has yet to face test match intensity. Spoilt for choice.
1 Go to commentsHe’s strung together a few strong seasons, I’d like to see him in the ABs and build some depth along with Reiko and ALB. Levi Aumua hasn’t taken the step we hoped to see but time yet.
2 Go to commentsWhere has our good friend Pecos gone!? Similar place to the Crusaders D, the abyss.
4 Go to commentsNice piece Nick. I haven’t seen much of the brumbies this year so will keep my powder dry on charlie, but clearly has the speed and footwork to be damaging in space. Similar to Samu, I’d worry about the size of our pack if the likes of Mcreight and Cale were in the b/row together. Maybe Cale could play a similar finisher role like Samu did for Rennie’s wallabies. Has Cale leapfrogged wilson in your eyes? He obviously has the lineout, but harry probably better (although not great) in the physical stuff and also has great hands in the loose. You’d have to say mcreight and valetini are shoe-ins at 7/8, so the question becomes who matches best with them at 6 and on the bench. I don’t know if he has a high enough ceiling, but id love to see wright given a shot based on how much bad luck he has had with injuries. He may also fit that no-nonsense graft/work rate irish approach…? If schmidt wants size and a 4/6 tweener then I’d probably pick Uru. On the bench I’d have no idea, Wilson if you want to give valetini a rest, and maybe hanigan/wright/uru as 6 replacements.
21 Go to comments