Black Ferns coach Wayne Smith. Photo / Photosport.co.nz
Black Ferns coach Wayne Smith. Photo / Photosport.co.nz
OPINION:
Phil Gifford outlines four talking points as we head into the Rugby World Cup.
Born to run
There's never been a clearer statement of intent than the decision by the Black Ferns coaching team that they'll be moving the ball wide and attacking whenever possible.
The bigger, stronger, gym-nurturedteams from Europe will almost certainly stick to the power approach that flattened the Ferns last November. In an arm wrestle the Ferns would lose again. What's fascinating now is whether flatter lines, quicker passing, and speed of foot can better the northern bulldozers.
As someone gripped by rugby as a primary schoolkid in the Waikato, part of the attraction was that you could go intro a menswear shop in Morrinsville in the 1960s and be served by an All Blacks captain, a man called "Ponty" Reid, who owned it.
Now, as a great-grandfather, the same feelings - that the international players we're watching have sprung from offices, farms, shops, and school staff rooms like the rest of us, not from professional rugby academies - are stirred by the Black Ferns.
Learning the Ferns captain Ruahei Demant "got bored" between semesters at law school so worked in dispatch at a courier company is a reminder that, although the first low-key steps to professionalism in women's game here have been taken, for the vast majority of their careers the Black Ferns have played rugby purely for the love of it, never for the money.
Amy du Plessis of the Black Ferns runs in for a try during the International Women's test match between the New Zealand Black Ferns and Japan. Photo / Getty Images.
Come the hour
Wayne Smith's Super Gold Card and the position as Black Ferns coach arrived within a couple of weeks in April. The coaching job wasn't one he'd sought, but it may be one of the most perfect cases of stars aligning in rugby.
Smith the player was notable for his mind being as sharp and quick as his running, and he never lacked courage. As a first-five in the 1980s he weighed just 71kg, but his Canterbury captain Don Hayes said he "admired him for his tackling. He always tried."
When Smith coached the Crusaders, Andrew Mehrtens would say he suggested rather than dictated, and the spirit he built in the team led in 1998 to the greatest upset in Super Rugby history, a stunning title win over the Blues.
His tactical nous, after assisting in two men's World Cup wins, is unquestioned. The huge bonus for the Ferns is that at a time when there was a public uproar over problems with the team's culture, they got a gifted, highly intelligent coach, whose respect for them was summed up back in June when he told me "I feel hugely privileged to be involved with these women."
May history repeat
Women's rugby pioneers here had to win their battles largely without official support or public acclamation. "I'd like to catch up with you this afternoon," an NZRU board member said to me before a 1990s All Blacks test in Dunedin, "but I've got to pretend I'm interested and go and watch a women's (provincial) game this afternoon."
Oddly, considering the vice-like grip men's rugby had on the country for much of the 20th century, the organisers of the 1987 men's World Cup also felt the sting of neglect. Many in Auckland still resented the game for bringing the '81 Springboks here.
Only 20,000 people were at the first game, when the All Blacks played Italy at Eden Park. There was so little money for the opening ceremony they couldn't afford a band. A microphone was held next to a record player for the national anthems, and when the machine broke down, Auckland Rugby's chief executive Lew Pryme, a former pop star, had to sing "God Defend New Zealand" unrehearsed and unaccompanied.
By massive contrast, in 2022 it's expected more than 40,000 people will be at Eden Park for the opening day. The crowd will be entertained by Rita Ora, the hugely successful English singer, who's had 13 top 10 singles in the British charts. The best selling non-fiction book in New Zealand this week is Ruby Tui's autobiography. The public goodwill already generated by the Black Ferns and the Cup is palpable.
How great it would be if Kiwis now fall in love with the Ferns the way, by the time their final rolled around, the country did with the '87 All Blacks.
