The Black Ferns are the one thing that can save New Zealand Rugby
The Black Ferns are the one thing that can save New Zealand Rugby (NZR) from themselves.
Our national body and our flagship team – if you can still call the All Blacks that – are utterly disconnected from the rest of us.
The Black Ferns have won the nation’s hearts in spite of their employers.
I still laugh at NZR not even realising there was a scheduling clash between the Black Ferns and All Blacks a couple of weeks ago. It’s as if the Black Ferns and the women’s Rugby World Cup were such an irrelevance that NZR never noticed the conflict.
The NZR model is to shun all outside noise and opinion. To disregard the hopes and wishes of everyone beyond the inner sanctum.
This is exemplified by the contempt with which the All Blacks often treat people too.
Sure, when there are cameras around and perhaps a trophy to wave, then the players are happy to pose for a selfie or two.
But you cannot tell me they are the people’s team. They don’t want us on the journey with them, because they believe themselves to be so far above us.
In turn, many of us now struggle to find something good to say about the All Blacks. What bond there was between the team and its fan base appears badly damaged if not broken.
We have put up with it all because – rightly or wrongly – we still seem to derive self-esteem from the All Blacks’ victories. Their legacy and their aura continue to mean something, even if we don’t like this group that much and don’t believe they’re as good as they used to be.
And then an alternative appears.
A team full of charisma and good humour. A team achieving quite a lot with comparatively little. A team who seems to care about us and want us to enjoy their success with them.
The Black Ferns still don’t benefit from the bells and whistles that come with being an All Black. Yes, they’re making a buck now, even if their annual salary is what an All Black might earn in a month.
But they’re appreciative. They’re not asking for a rest or a sabbatical. In fact they want more rugby and more chances to show their wares and more opportunities to engage with fans.
Interview requests? Bring them on.
This is a group of women looking to grow the game and promote New Zealand and provide inspiration to future generations.
What’s not to like about that?
I’ve heard that it’s our fault that there aren’t more Ruby Tuis in the men’s game. That we’ve beaten the spirit and the spark out of these poor little blighters.
They all want to be genuine, but we just won’t let them.
I think the female way is the way forward and I hope that NZR will finally notice that.
Just as they never saw that scheduling problem coming, so it is that they hadn’t considered world cup-winning bonuses for the players or the fact that many of us now want to see the team undertake a national tour.
Some of us have been lucky to travel to Auckland and Whangarei to watch the Black Ferns during this tournament, but the majority have had to make do with television.
Well, we want to congratulate them in person now and then we want to see the team given a meaningful test programme that takes in as many centres as possible.
We’ve forever been told there’s no market for women’s rugby and that funding from NZR amounted to a donation, rather than an investment. Maybe, but the crowds at Eden Park and the 1.3 million of us who watched the world cup final on TV would suggest otherwise.
The All Blacks and NZR would benefit greatly from taking a few pages from the Black Ferns’ playbook. Be open, be accessible, be one of the people again.
As much through their personalities as their performances on the paddock, the Black Ferns have shown how quickly a country can fall head over heels for a team.
Let’s hope some broader lessons can be learned from that.
Comments on RugbyPass
🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
27 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
1 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusades , you can keep going.
1 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
27 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
27 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood 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.
27 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.
9 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.
27 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?
11 Go to comments