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
I certainly don’t enjoy drinking beers at 8am in the morning watching rugby games in NZ.
1 Go to commentsThis looks like a damage limitation exercise for Wales, keeping back some of their more effective players for the last 20/25 minutes to try and counter England’s fresh legs so the Red Roses don’t rack up a big score.
1 Go to commentsVery unlikely the Bulls will beat Leinster in Dublin. It would be different in Pretoria.
1 Go to commentsI think it is a dangerous path to go down to ban a player for the same period that a player they injured takes to recover. Players would be afraid to tackle anyone. I once tackled my best friend at school in a practice match and sprained his ankle. I paid for it by having to play fly-half instead of full-back for the rest of that season’s fixtures.
5 Go to commentsJust such a genuine good bloke…and probably the best all round player in his generation. Good guys do come first sometimes and he handled the W.Cup loss with great attitude.
2 Go to commentsWord in France is that he’s on the radar of a few Top14 clubs.
2 Go to commentsGet blocking Travis, this guy has styles and he’s gonna make a swift impact…!
1 Go to commentsWhat remorse? She claimed that her dangerous tackle wasn’t worthy of a red! She should be compensating the injured player for loss of earnings at the minimum. Her ban should include the recovery time of the injured player as well as the paltry 3 match ban.
5 Go to commentsArdie is a legend. Finished and klaar. Two things: “Yeah, yeah, I have had a few conversations with Razor just around feedback on my game and what I am doing well, what I need to improve on or work-ons. It’s kind of been minimal, mate, but it’s all that I need over here in terms of how to be better, how to get better and what I am doing well.” I hope he’s downplaying it - and that it’s not that “minimal”. The amount of communication and behind the scenes preparation the Bok coaches put into players - Rassie and co would be all over Ardie and being clear on what is expected of him. This stands out for me as something teams should really be looking at in terms of the boks success from a coaching point of view. And was surprised by the comment - “minimal”. In terms of the “debate” around Ireland and South Africa. Nice one Ardie. Indeed. There’s no debate.
2 Go to commentsThere’s a bit of depth there but realistically Australian players have a long way to go to now catch up. The game is moving on fast and Australia are falling behind. Australian sides still don’t priories the breakdown like they should, it’s a non-negotiable if you want to compete on the international stage. That goes for forwards and backs. The Australian team could have a back row that could make a difference but the problem is they don’t have a tight five that can do the business. Tupou is limited in defence, overweight and unfit and the locks are a long way from international standard. Frost is soft and Salakai-Loto is too small so that means they need a Valentini at 8 who has to do the hard graft so limits the effectiveness of the backrow. Schmidt really needs to get a hard working, tough tight 5 if he wants to get this team firing.
3 Go to commentsSorry Morgan you must have been the “go to for a quote” ex player this week. Its rnd 6 and there is plenty of time to cement a starting 15 and finishing 8 so I have no such concerns.
2 Go to commentsGreat read. I wish you had done this article on the ROAR.
2 Go to commentsThe current AB coaching team is basically the Crusaders so it smacks of wanting their familiar leaders around. This is not a good look for the future of the ABs or the younger players in Super working their way up the player ladder. Razor is touted as innovative, forward looking but his early moves look like insecurity and insular, provincial thinking. He is the AB's coach not the Golden Oldies.
10 Go to commentsSimple reason for wanting him back. Robertson wants him as captain. Otherwise he wouldn’t be bothering chasing him. Not enough reason to come back just to mentor.
10 Go to commentsI had not considered this topic like this at all, brilliant read. I had been looking at his record at the Waratahs and thought it odd the Crusaders appointed him, then couple that with all that experience and talent departing and boom. They’ve got some great talent developing though, and in all honesty I don’t think anyone would be over confident taking them on in a playoff match, no matter how poor the first half of their season was. I think they can pull a game out of their ass when it counts.
2 Go to commentsNot a bad list but not Porecki and not Donaldson. Not because they are Tahs, or Ex Tahs, they are just not good enough. Edmed should be ahead. Far more potential. Wilson should be 8 and Valentini 6. Wilson needs to be told by his father and his coach, stop bloody running in to brick wall defence. You’re not playing under the genius Thorn any more. He’s a fantastic angle runner. The young new 8 from the Brumbies looks really good too. The Lonegrans are just too small for international rugby as is Paisami, as is Hamish Stewart at 12. Both great at Super Rugby level. Stewart could have been a great 10 if not for Brad Thorn. Uru should be there and so should Tupou. Tupou just needs good Australian coaching which he hasn’t been getting. I don’t think Schmidt will excite him.
3 Go to commentsIf he wants to come back then he should. He will be a major asset to the younger locks and could easily be played as an impact player off the bench coming on in the last 30. He is fit, strong and capable and has all the experience to make up for any loss in physical prowess. He could also be brought back with a view to coaching within the structures one day. Duane Vermeulen played until he was 37 or 38. He is now a roaming coach within the South African coaching structures. He was valuable in the last world cup and has been a major influence on Jasper Wiese and other young players which has helped and accelerated their development and growth. Whitelock could do the exact same thing for NZ
10 Go to commentsBrett Excellent words… finally someone (other than DC) has noted that Hanigan is very hard and very good at doing what Backrow should do… his performance via the Drua sauna was quite daunting for those on the other side… very high tackle count… carries with good end result… constant threat to make a good 20-25 meters with those long legs… providing his mass effectively to crunching the Drua pack… Finally he is returning to quality form… way to much injury time over the last 2 years… smart-strong-competent in his skills… caught every lineout throw aimed at him and delivered clean pass to whoever was down below… and he worked hard for the whole 80 minutes… Ned has to be in the top 5 for backrow honors… He knows what is required as he has been there before…
20 Go to commentsI think Sam Whitelock should not touch a return with a bargepole. He went out on a high, playing in the RWC Final. He would be coming back into a team that will be weaker than last years, and might even be struggling to win games, especially against the Boks. Stay in France, enjoy another year with Pau, playing alongside his brother.
10 Go to commentsRyan Coxon has been very impressive considering he was signed by WF as injury cover whilst Uru has been a standout for QR, surprised neither of those mentioned
3 Go to comments