The vibe of the Black Ferns is something England must understand
Vibe is an informal noun that means “a person’s emotional state or the atmosphere of a place as communicated to and felt by others.”
Logic is basically the opposite, a noun meaning “reasoning conducted or assessed according to strict principles of validity.”
Karen Bond is the Web and Publications Editor for World Rugby. In the bustling Media Centre at Eden Park on World Cup Finals Day, she’s not a conspicuous presence. Frazzled photographers and overdressed television presenters fight for that title.
Bond has been the editor of the World Rugby Yearbook since 2012. The English woman knows more about it than anyone else. She deals strictly with rugby logic. Her vibe isn’t that of a loner, but she’s reserved and earnest.
Bond tells me she thinks the Black Ferns will beat England. Why? “Just a hunch,” she says.
Logic suggests that’s impossible. England has won a world record 30 consecutive test matches. The most disciplined team at the tournament boasts 714 more caps than New Zealand and won their last international against the Black Ferns 56-15 on November 7, 2021.
The Black Ferns vibe in 2021 was toxic. It was so bad the only person in the country with the nous and mana to repair it was Wayne Smith.
The “Professor” is the rarest combination of high IQ and EQ. A master tactician with an obsessive work ethic he makes ruthless calls for the better of the collective. The dumping of veteran Black Ferns, Eloise Blackwell, Les Elder, and Chelsea Semple before the World Cup would have come as a surprise to many.
However, Smith builds tremendous competition, trust, empathy, and passion within his players. He can quietly shoulder-tap any rockstar to support his cause. Daniel Carter, Conard Smith and Sir Graham Henry are all friends of the 2022 Black Ferns – rugby royalty summoned in a frantic bid to save face.
In 2013 Smith helped guide the Chiefs to an unexpected Super Rugby title and observed:
“Fundamentally, we wanted good buggers. We wanted more than just a cultural change – essentially creating a champion team is a spiritual act. Not everyone’s cup of tea, but definitely ours.
“We sought an identity and have ended up honouring it. Character was important when selecting the team. We play for our people and our region, which we’ve travelled over.”
What’s the difference between coaching males and females?
“The All Blacks, the men, need to play well to be able to be happy and enjoy life. The Black Ferns, the women, need to be happy and enjoying’ life to be able to play well,” Smith said.
If ever there was a moment to capture the vibe of the Black Ferns World Cup campaign it was the margarine-melting smile of Stacey Fluhler.
In the 73rd minute, the Black Ferns were behind 29-31 when Fluhler overhauled an audacious kick by Theresa Fitzpatrick and then delivered an improbable pass off the ground to the similarly cheerful Ayesha Leti-I’iga. It was a try that ultimately won the World Cup. It required such rare courage it ended Fluhler’s game with a buggered ankle.
Fluhler left Eden Park with an innocent, impish, grin spread wide across her face. It was a welcome relief to the furnace of mounting pressure, the opposite demeanour of a hardened All Black. It triggered a euphoric roar from the faithful.
Why would you smile when leaving the field?
Confidence that your mates can get it done. Joy in being part of a historic occasion earned manfully in the face of historic institutional apathy. The 2022 Black Ferns make no apologies for expressing themselves. Smith told his team prior to kick-off that he loved them and was proud of them and he just wanted to go out and play and be true to our DNA.
The Black Ferns’ DNA is that they have been awesome since 1998, the year they won their first World Cup. They play fast, dynamic, exciting, hearty, rugby coupled with a deep connection to Tikanga which values the importance of the land, river, mountain, and family you’re from.
When Captain Ruahei Demant plays for the Black Ferns, she represents everyone in the small village of ?m?io. In New Zealand, everyone knows everyone. Lose and you cop it from the local Uber driver, win and you get a free beer at the pub. That pressure is always palpable and not as obvious in a place like London where they have Big Ben.
The Black Ferns played some awful rugby in the final. Passes were dropped, tackles were missed, territory was surrendered meekly, and the restarts were horrific. The only things that looked likely to stop the rolling mauls were rubber chickens, sledgehammers, nebulisers, speed bumps, another fuel tax, Crusaders, and Willie Apiata VC.
But that didn’t matter. The Black Ferns are the antithesis of risk-averse England. That’s not to say England has no soul, they’re a phenomenal rugby team with some truly wonderful players capable of exciting flourishes. However, the Red Roses were cold and calculated, like a villain in a sci-fi movie where the good guys are defending the rugby aesthetic.
The Sky Tower looked like a UFO had landed above it on Friday, thick fog obscuring Auckland’s tallest landmark. It was the kind of day one associates with grim chapters in Charles Dickens novels. Maybe if the final was played that day, England would have won.
Saturday dawned bright and warm. It was ‘barbie’, ‘code,’ Long Whites’, and Six60 weather.
I was assigned Seat Two in the media turbine. It was in a claustrophobic corner resembling a spot young smokers would try and hide in at high school. Delightful volunteer Caren shifted me to Seat 11 with an open window and atmosphere.
I was lucky to strike a brief friendship with Jonah Lomu through Rod Gabb, a diehard rugby fan and a thoroughly decent bloke who has given huge service to Wesley College where Lomu went to school.
When Jonah died in 2015, I was asked to speak about that experience at a memorial service and was presented with a Wesley tie, one of my most cherished items. Only TV jocks and fish heads wear ties to rugby in New Zealand, so it was draped beside me within reach of friendly spectators outside.
When those fans were made aware of the tie’s history, they would turn around and touch it like Jonah was present.
Plenty of good happened down the left wing when Jonah Lomu wore jersey 11 for the All Blacks. His legend was made against England. Last night saw plenty of traffic in the Lomu lane. Portia Woodman (the Black Fern most like Jonah) was illusive with limited opportunities. Her replacement Ayesha Leti-I’iga is nicknamed ‘the denotator.’ She’s a freak of a finisher.
Everything wrong with the contemporary game was captured late in the first half. England wins a maul penalty. They kicked the ball out and mauled again, earning an advantage. In a rare display of expansion, England stretched play from one touchline to the other. In unfamiliar terrain, England threw an unusually risky pass which Renee Holmes pounced upon and galloped 80 meters to score the greatest ‘crowd try’ of all time. The officious referee called it back. Typical. What happened next? Another rolling maul try for England. That wasn’t supposed to happen. It wasn’t the vibe, but it’s okay.
Saturday’s vibe was about being bold. It was about daring to be different, taking a punt and loving it. It was about a spiritual connection to a style of rugby that Kiwis can relate to.
With respect to Ian Foster, he has the charisma of an insurance clerk. We don’t dislike the All Blacks we just don’t relate to him on the same level as Smithy. The All Blacks vibe appears dour and mumbled compared with the refreshing audacity and Ahora of our Wahine Toa. Even grumpy white men smiled at this World Cup, their frustrations kept in check perhaps by the sheer numbers of mums, wives, and kids present.
The larrkin streak in Smithy’s coaching. The 45kg computer that accompanied the All Blacks to the 1999 World Cup. ‘The Dojo’ gave the Crusaders an early advantage. The best Kiwi rugby coaches have always had an element of an eccentric character.
The Joanah Ngan-Woo lineout steal was all bravado, the call to compete coming from the coach’s box. Maybe Smith had a flashback to Mark Connors, the Wallaby who ruined his All Blacks head coaching career in 2000. That day, the rival jumped quicker.
Auckland was stuck in a punitive 107-day lockdown while the rest of the country largely got on with it. How good was it watching strangers high-fiving and black slapping each other and then discovering they know somebody who knows the person beside them?
England if you’re going to win the World Cup at Eden Park, you must understand the vibe better. It’s not an exact science but it involves more than a rolling maul.
Comments on RugbyPass
Looking forward to the Wallabies being competitive again. No doubt that Joe can get them back on track.
1 Go to commentsThanks, Nick, not only for this fine article, but for all the others during 6N 2024. I really enjoyed this 2024 tournament, and felt it was one of the best for many years. That final match in Lyons was really good. England were certainly unlucky when that speculative hack by Ramos lead to a French try. It could just so easily have landed in English hand.s, and they score at the other end. I did think though that the French played some great rugby, and some of their driving play in the forwards was just fearsome. I watched Meafou with interest, and he has a good start to his career. It is interesting to compare him with Will Skelton. Lot of similarities, though so far Meafou has not shown any offloading threat. All credit to Borthwick for being prepared to change, and what great result, even if that last game was lost at the death. I feel they are a real chance to cause the AB’s problems this winter/summer. Finally a comment on Ireland. I thought their last game was their worst, and they did not look like the world’s No 2 side at all. What really worries me is that the loss to England was, in my view, down to poor decision making by the coaching group, and ofc Andy Farrell wears that. It was a big mistake to move JGP away from scrum half. Murray should have been the one to go to the wing. And the “finishers” should have been on the field earlier. And this is the second time this has happened. The RWC Qf against the AB’s, and not getting Crowley onto the field was a huge mistake. Finally, finally, watching Italy play was a joy. How wonderful that they are no longer the punchbag of the 6 N.
41 Go to commentsGreat story. Rugby needs new investment in teams like Brussels another pro league in Europe would be great.
1 Go to commentsAlso, looking at the data from last year, it seemed like by far the two biggest predictors of success were (1) kicking more than your opponents, and (2) having a higher rate of line-out wins than your opponents. I haven’t gone through the stats this year with a fine tooth comb, but the increase in kicks per game and the increase in tries from lineouts would suggest that these two metrics are only getting more important. England’s move away from a kick-heavy game to win against Ireland was seen by some as evidence that running rugby is on the rise. Alternatively it could be taken as evidence that if one team kicks more, and the other team wins more lineouts (as England did) a match is bound to be close to a draw.
2 Go to commentsI have been finding it odd that points per 22 entry has become such a talked about stat, given that your points per entry can be driven down by having more entries. These data would seem to confirm that it isn’t a useful metric, or at any rate is less useful than total entries.
2 Go to commentsI think the last two games England have played is some of their best rugby they have played under Borthwick. There has been a lot more attacking instinct and as a reward have created some well worked tries. Ollie Lawrence is a good foil at 12 as he offers the hard direct lines whilst the rest of the backs can play open. As much as it pains me to say but I do hope England keep playing this way. On a side note my favourite try of the weekend was Lorenzo Pani’s for the nice loop play that put him away and his finish was excellent. Thanks as always Nick.
41 Go to commentsMost exciting player on the planet right now, worth the price of a ticket.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith and Ireland live rent free in Safa’s heads. Their comments only triggers because its true. If the Boks had dismantled a 14 man AB’s, then there would be more respect. But they didnt, in fact quite the opposite, the 14 man NZ were clearly better. And the Bok have always been ordinary between RWC’s, thats why their supporters are now ‘only RWC’s matter’. They know thats BS. Its BS to both AB’s and Bok’s due to their history. But now its all the Safas have. Now we’ll hear excuses when they lose “oh we didnt have all our players available, the ABs/France/Eng/Irel were at full strength”, forgetting for a minute that its because of their own dumb policy. Oh well, makes a change from blaming ‘cheating refs’.
23 Go to commentsNo Nick, they did not, in fact, justify any ‘probables’ label. At no time did they seriously compete for the championship. Ireland led from start to finish and in the end, as a result of glaring referee errors, were never under serious pressure to lose their crown.
41 Go to commentsMoney for him, and his family, has been the sole motivator since he signed for Queensland aged 17. Why else sign for Melbourne. Tupou is poorly advised. If he’d stayed and developed in NZ he would have had a long Test career. If Leinster offer him a few more coins than he’s currently earning, he’s goneburger.
4 Go to commentsFinn. No one would say Ford had played well up until the last game. One standout performance in 5 is hardly in form . It should be a given that a 10 will control play . Not in Fords case be praised for suddenly doing so. Where was he against Scotland ,Italy. The pundits were saying how far away from play he was standing and one even said that the Ireland game was his last chance saloon to perform . Not exactly top form catching anyones eye. If he can play like this game after game then great. Keep him in . But after 90 odd caps we all know he just doesnt keep it going . By all means keep him there but the issue is that Borthwick will persist even when he plays poorly. Which is more often than not. Thats why i am concerned that Smith ,despite fab form , cannot get a game at his preferred spot. Can you imagine Ford at full back .
5 Go to commentsI do not really get why put Ollivon at 6 when he’s a 7, while Cros was the best Frenchman of the tournament, playing at…6. His only game replacing Aldritt at 8 doesn’t change much in terms of his impact. Lamaro was also outstanding in that brilliant Italian side, probably better than Reffell. So putting 2 Welsh players from the wooden spoon holders, and none of the 4th nation (Scotland) is also strange. Is it about showing that in this harsh transition Wales is, there were some standouts…?
6 Go to commentsThe events at this year’s six nations should undermine many of the arguments made against promotion and relegation between the six nations and the REC. If Italy had been allowed to yo-yo between divisions it conceivably could have really hurt their development, but if Italy, Wales, and Scotland are all at risk of relegation, with none of them being relegated more often than once every 3 or 4 years, you’d have to back all of them to muddle on through it, especially when you factor in the likelihood they’ll still be guaranteed world league matches against tier 1 opponents. Another way of looking at italys resurgence would be to say that the development model of adding an extra team to the six nations has worked, and now must be done again. Georgia could join to make it a 7 team round robin, and if and when Georgia demonstrate an ability to consistently win games, Portugal can also be added to make it an 8 team 2 conference competition. Frankly at this point I think it falls to world rugby to demand that the 6N act in the interests of the game. If the 6N won’t commit to expansion then the 6N teams should be handicapped in world cup draws (i.e. world cup seedings would not be based on their ranking points, but on their ranking points minus a 5 point penalty).
6 Go to commentsSteve Borthwick deserves credit for releasing the shackles on his England side and letting them play in a manner that somewhat resembles the top sides in the Gallagher Premiership. Will they revert to type in New Zealand in July.?
41 Go to commentsJames Lowe wouldn't get in any other 6N team. He's a great example of Farrell’s brilliance, and the Irish system. He is slow. His footwork is poor. But he fits perfectly in that Irish system, and has a superb impact. But put him in another team, and he'll look bang average.
6 Go to commentsCrusaders reached their heights through recruitment of North Island players, often leaving those NI teams bereft of key players. Example: Scott Barrett and Sam Whitelock robbed the Canes of their lineout and AB locks. For years the Canes have struggled at lock. This rabid recruitment was iniated by rule changes by a Crusader dominated NZR Head Office. Now this aggressive recruitment has back-fired, going after young inside back Hamilton Boys stars. They now have 4 Chiefs region 10s and not one with the requisite experience at Super level. Problems of their own making!
2 Go to commentsOver rated for a long time…exposed at scrum time too.
4 Go to comments“Firing me” should have been Gatland’s answer.
2 Go to commentsFinn Russell logic: “World” = 4 countries. Ireland may be at or near the top. FR’s bigger concern should be he and his fellow Scots (incl. the Bloemfontein ones) sliding back down to below top 10
42 Go to commentsMind games have begun. Ireland learned their lesson after saying they could beat England with 13 players or whatever. Still, if they win at Loftus, that would be impressive - final frontier etc.
58 Go to comments