New Zealand Rugby Has A Big Problem. So Why Are Its Most Powerful Voices Still Silent?
The events of this week have cast a shadow across New Zealand rugby, with the despicable behaviour of one of its most beloved teams shocking the nation. But, Steve Hansen aside, its most prominent voices have stayed silent. Why?
In US sports they have this nickname, “America’s Team”. Initially bestowed upon the dominant Dallas Cowboys team of the 80s, it’s latterly come to be attached to any team which seems to embody the aspirational national character – and notwithstanding all the deeply fucked up things happening in America, the idea that certain teams at certain moments can acquire a meaning beyond the arena in which they do their work has a resonance.
To me, over the past five years or so, the Chiefs were New Zealand’s team. Assembled from pieces who’d failed to find a home at other franchises, or been judged not good enough, they coalesced into something awe-inspiring on the field, winning championships playing with a kind of passionate recklessness. Compared to some of our more famous teams, the Chiefs took risks, screwed up and came back to win anyway. They were led by people who seemed of matchless character, too – from coaches Dave Rennie and Wayne Smith (who nearly quit the All Blacks after a particularly ugly drinking session in South Africa) to senior players like Liam Messam and Sonny Bill Williams.
The point is that they were easy to romanticise, to view as a different and more modern version of the New Zealand rugby archetype. Then this week happened, and all that went out the window. Over a series of devastating interviews conducted with RNZ and Story a woman named Scarlette describes a terrifying ordeal in which a group of big, strong, drunk men repeatedly touched her, licked her, grabbed her vagina and ignored her protestations and increasingly violent resistance. At the end, after all they’d put her through, they short-changed her.
As Amanda Gillies said during Scarlett’s chilling interview on Story, “that’s a sexual assault”. It is, and police are investigating – though, in a too familiar refrain, Scarlette is ambivalent about pursuing a complaint through that avenue, given her experience with them in the past.
This is a known organisational problem for the police, one they’re working through. But this situation is a new and immense problem for rugby. Already it’s metastasising within the Waikato, with a stripper hired for a prior team event describing similarly degrading and potentially illegal behaviour.
The incidents are manifestly despicable. It’s the kind of behaviour you instinctively know exists in the seldom-visited corridors of our collective national history. The blind eye of generations of sportswriters toward this kind of behaviour is the stuff of legend – players were indulged and their actions never considered for reporting due to an unspoken jock-sniffing compact which existed between reporters and their subjects.
Thankfully a different generation of journalists within and without of sports has jettisoned that attitude along with thousands of other unwritten rules which often poisoned life for those who weren’t the dominant gender and ethnicity in this country. It’s still a mess, but at least we’re not pretending it doesn’t exist.
As ugly as this moment is, and potentially criminal as those actions are, the fact it’s the single story gripping the nation is indicative of an evolution in the code of both society and sports: this shit will not stand any longer. The response of both Andrew Flexman and Gallagher’s Margaret Comer earlier in the week suggests that neither had woken up to that fact. Well, now they know.
The bigger problem for rugby itself is the vacuum from the code itself. Where are the senior players and former players, speaking up, instinctively and without mediation, about how affronted and appalled they are by this?
Steve Hansen made a short, sharp, off-the-cuff comment condemning the actions and calling for an end to the “mad Monday” celebrations which are so frequently the source of these kind of nightmare stories. It was a case of serious and sincere moral leadership from a man who has lately become a gruff, stoic and quite unexpected exemplar of a kind of progressive thought.
He is to be applauded. But for days now the rest of the code is chillingly silent. For a sport which derives huge portions of its revenue by selling its players as larger-than-life archetypes of our most beloved national traits, this is deeply troubling. Because part of the kind of good character the code trades off – which it has always sought to epitomise by contrast to its supposed poor relation, rugby league – is stepping forward and owning a situation.
The NZRU, which has a legendary PR machine and has trained its young men to be comfortable speaking for hours and saying almost nothing, has a fortress-like quality at the moment. They must be watching, and feel paralysed by these scenes. Yet publicly, the most powerful names in the game haven’t come forward to confront this problem.
In the absence of those senior voices deploying some of their immense mana here, large sections of the country will persist in thinking this is just boys being boys, PC going mad again and what did she expect. As Alex Casey showed in her opinion piece on the issue, our social media sites are flooded with vile comments suggesting all that and worse.
Yet as well as being a serious criminal matter and a blight on the game which will echo long into the future, it is also giant teachable moment for New Zealand. For anything good to come out the disgusting behaviour on that night, someone from within the game needs to step forward and call it what it was. Send a signal to both the code and those who follow it that this is not what they stand for, not acceptable and not what this game is about.
Because while the idea of the Chiefs as “New Zealand’s team” is now gone, the chance for the team’s and the sport’s fans to learn something about consent and boundaries is not. Rugby prides itself on being a place where national virtues like resilience, sacrifice and leadership can be made flesh on sporting fields. Now, at a juncture of great crisis, it’s time for some of its greatest practitioners to live those values.
Comments on RugbyPass
I 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.
8 Go to commentsIts a great idea but one that I dont think will have a lot of traction. It will depend on the prestige that they each hold but if you can do that it would be great. When Japan beat the Boks (my team) I was absolutely devestated but I wont deny the great game they played that day. We were outclassed and it was one of the best games of rugby I have seen. Using an idea like this you might just give the the underdog teams more of an opportunity to beat the big teams and I can absolutely see it being a brilliant display of rugby. They beat us because they planned for that game. It was a great moment for Japan. This way we can remove the 4 year wait and give teams something to aim for outside of World Cup years.
8 Go to commentsHi, Dave here. Happy to answer questions 🥰
8 Go to commentsDon’t think that headline is accurate. It’s great to see Aus doing better but I’m not sure they’ve shown much threat to the top of the table. They shouldn’t be inflating wins against the lousy Highlanders and Crusaders either.
3 Go to commentsSuch a shame Roigard and Aumua picked up long term injuries, probably the two form players in the comp. Also, pretty sure Clarke Dermody isn’t their coach. Got it half right though.
3 Go to commentsOh the Aussie media, they never learn. At least Andrew Kellaway is like “Woah, yeah it’s great, but settle down there guys” having endured years of the Aussie media, fans, and often their players getting ahead of themselves only to fall flat on their faces. Have the “We'll win the Bledisloe for sure this year!” headlines started yet? It’s simple to see what’s going on. The Aussie teams are settled, they didn't lose any of their major players overseas. The Crusaders and Chiefs lost key experienced All Blacks, and Razor in the Crusaders case, and clearly neither are anywhere near as strong as last year (The Canes and Blues would probably be 3rd & 4th if they were). The Highlanders are annually average, even more so post-Aaron Smith and a big squad clean out. The two teams at the top? The two nz sides with largely the same settled roster as last year, except Ardie Savea for the Canes. They’ve both got far better coaches now too. If the Aussies are going to win the title, this is the year the kiwi sides will be weakest, so they better take their chance.
3 Go to commentsThe World Cup has to be the gold standard, line in the sand. 113 teams compete for what is the opportunity to make the pool stages, and then the knockout games for the trophy. The concept is sound. This must have been the rationale when the World Cup was created, surely? But I’m all for Looking forward and finding new ways for the SH to dominate the NH into the future. The autumn series needs a change up. Let’s start by having the NH teams come south every odd year for the Autumn/Spring series games?
8 Go to commentsWhat’ll happen when the AI models of the future go back in time and try to destroy the AI models of the past standing in their way of certain victory?
41 Go to commentsThanks, Nick. We (Seanny Maloney, Brett and I) just discussed Charlie as a potential Wallaby No 8, and wondered if he has truly realised how big he is in contact (and whether he can add 5 kg w/o slowing down). Your scouting report confirms our suspicions he has the materiel. No one knows if he has the mentality (as Johann van Graan said this week about CJ, Duane and Alfie B) to carry 10-15 times a game.
57 Go to commentsHe would be a great player for the Stormers, Dobbo should approach the guy.
3 Go to commentsGood article. A few years back when he was playing for the Cheetahs, he was a quiet standout for exactly the seasons stated here. I occasionally get to see his games in the UK, and he has become a more complete player and in many ways like an Irish player. His work ethic is so suitable to the Leinster game. I wonder if Rassie would have him listed somewhere.
3 Go to commentsResults probably skewed by the fact that a few clubs have foreign fly halves in their 30s, but most teams have young English scrum halves. Results also likely to be skewed by the fact that many teams rely on centres and fullbacks to provide depth at 10, whereas they will need to stock a large number of specialist backup 9s.
1 Go to commentsI really get the sense that when all is said and done, the path of least resistance will end up being a merger of Wasps & Worcester that essentially kills the Worcester Warriors brand and sees Wasps permanently playing at Sixways. I’m not saying that’s what should happen or what I want to happen. I just think it’s the easiest rout to take and therefore, will be what happens. Wasps will definitely return to play first, and I suppose it all depends on if they can find support at Sixways. If people turn up and support Wasps in that community, at that ground, I bet they drop the Sevenoaks plan and just remain at Sixways. Under the radar but not totally unrelated, it looks as though London Irish are going to be brought back from the dead by a German consortium and look set to return, likely to the remade Championship. It’s set to have 12 clubs next season with 14 in 2025/26, what do you want to bet those extra 2 are Wasps and London Irish?
3 Go to commentsThe shoulder is a “joint” with multiple bones. You don’t “fracture” a shoulder, you fracture any one or more of the bones that make up a shoulder.
2 Go to commentsOh dear, bones too suspect to continue?
2 Go to commentsBold headline considering the Canes and Blues are 1 and 2 and the Brumbies were soundly beaten by the Chiefs and Blues. Biggest surprise is Rebels 4 Crusaders 12 - no one saw that coming. If Aus are improving that’s great 👍
3 Go to commentsAnna, You are right, we need to have patience whilst the others catch up to England and France. Also it is the PWR that has been the game changer for England. the RFU put money into that initially at the expense of the Red Roses. I was sceptical at first but it has paid off in spades.
1 Go to commentsI think Matt Proctor became a 1 test AB in the same fixture. Cameron is quality and has been great this season, can’t believe’s he only 27. Realistically how would he not be selected for ABs squad this year. Only Dmac is ahead of him as a specialist 10. With Jordan out, it will come down to where and when Beauden Barrett slots back in, and where they want to play Ruben Love. Cameron seems an absolute lock in for the wider squad though. Added benefit of TJ-Cameron-Jordie combination at 9, 10, 11 too.
1 Go to commentsFarcical, to what end would someone want to pay to keep this thing going.
1 Go to commentsHavili, our best 12 by a mile, will be in the squad, if he stays fit. JB is the most overrated AB in the last 50 years.
61 Go to comments