OPINION
LOSER: This Black Ferns image...
A big stage, and a game between the two best women’s rugby teams in the world, at a legendary stadium, in front of more than 40,000 fans.
A camera pans to the Black Ferns coaching box and what do we see? Yes,
Winners & Losers: Image that shows how NZ Rugby lets down women’s game – Chris Rattue
Black Ferns star Ruby Tui looks for the ball at Twickenham. Photo / Photosport
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The New Zealand women’s game has gone from hosting England at the Burnham military camp all those years ago to playing again in London’s rugby citadel.
Yet with six of the past seven World Cup titles under the belt and all the other progress that has been made, the Black Ferns operate in an environment that won’t go the extra mile to progress the women’s cause.
The substance is not good; the symbolism is terrible.
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Even the trophy for contests played between New Zealand and Australia (to use the word contest loosely) is named after a man.
This in a sport where the jewel in the crown, the All Blacks, have never had a head coach of Māori heritage.
Apart from the moral/role model issues, no wonder rugby is becoming isolated and losing its mass appeal. It is stuck in some weird time warp.
Allan Bunting is a very popular Black Ferns head coach, but at least there should be women sprinkled through the assistant coaching ranks in this day and age.
If rugby needs a lesson in this, it could look over at New Zealand Football where magical beginnings for the women’s game stalled badly under a reactionary administration, before the situation improved slightly due to a leadership change. Women’s football in this country has never properly recovered though.
Rugby needs to work harder and be more proactive.
Yes, Black Ferns great Dame Farah Palmer has been a big factor in New Zealand rugby. But lauding Palmer starts to feel like tokenism when you look at that coaching box.
WINNER: The Black Ferns
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Even as a vehement anti-royalist, I got a lump in the throat witnessing the affection between the Black Ferns and King Charles last week. The team’s humour and warmth is infectious.
WINNER: The Black Ferns, believe it or not... if they can do this.
The Black Ferns lost by 12 points at Twickenham, but England were nothing like the scary monster expected.
Fair to say that the home side lost their way, and the Black Ferns were able to make something out of very little on a couple of occasions in the second half.
Looking ahead to the World Cup in England next year, the champions-but-rebuilding Black Ferns may be in the hunt.
England had so much more experience in the test at Twickenham – the team comparison was something like 800 to 200 tests.
The English were also well-prepared via a game against France the previous week, whereas the Black Ferns went in cold.
Yes, England did start by far the better. But the Black Ferns pegged them back, and they did so without playing all that well.
England’s famous systems need to be challenged in the middle of the field. A great early run and pass from the Ferns 128kg tighthead prop Tanya Kalounivale provided hope. Unfortunately, they couldn’t reproduce anything similar, but the blueprint is there.
Bottom line: This England team never loses (apart from the last World Cup final) and yet they looked surprisingly vulnerable.
WINNER: The All Blacks power factor... more options
The return of Blues lock Patrick Tuipulotu puts more grunt into the All Blacks’ engine room for the opening Bledisloe Cup test against Australia in Sydney on Saturday night. The power factor is the key to New Zealand’s long domination of their transtasman rivals.
It will be interesting to see how Tuipulotu figures in coach Scott Robertson’s plans, with pundits increasingly confident about Chiefs lock Tupou Vaa’i’s test credentials. Same deal with the impressive loosehead Tamaiti Williams, given Ethan de Groot’s return.
For what it’s worth, I’d start de Groot and Tuipulotu. Big prop Williams, with all-round skills, has terrific bomb squad potential, and Vaa’i’s athleticism could also be an interesting second-half game-changer.
One of Robertson’s main missions should be finding the right impact players for his bench. It might require some experimentation.
WINNER: Chris Wood
What a week! The star Kiwi football veteran gave his All Whites teammates a serve after they fell to Mexico. The All Whites responded by drawing with an admittedly wan American side. Wood then figured in one of the great English Premier League upsets, when Nottingham Forest beat Liverpool at Anfield, their first victory at the hallowed ground since 1969.
WINNER/LOSER: Manchester City
Took sole charge at the top of the English Premier League table, thanks to Liverpool’s surprising loss to Forest.
But it could be “all for nowt”, as a gloomy City fan put it to me.
The EPL champions go on trial this week before an independent hearing, facing 80 allegations of financial irregularities (spread over 14 years) and 35 of failing to co-operate with investigators. It could result in them being relegated or even expelled from the EPL.
Held at a secret location, it is being billed as sport’s “trial of the century” with a verdict expected early next year.
WINNER: Solidarity in a tragedy
Ugandan Olympic marathon runner Rebecca Cheptegei’s funeral was attended by Olympians from her country and Kenya. The 2024 Olympic host city Paris plans to name a sports facility after her.
The 33-year-old was horrifically murdered this month by her ex-boyfriend, who set Cheptegei on fire at her home in Kenya. Cheptegei’s death sparked more outrage at violence against women, and female athletes, in countries such as Kenya.
“She dazzled us here in Paris. We saw her. Her beauty, her strength, her freedom,” Mayor Anne Hidalgo said. “Paris will not forget her.”
WINNER: Oscar Piastri
The Australian won his second Formula One race, in Azerbaijan, for McLaren, meaning once-mighty Red Bull has been overtaken in the constructors’ championship.
McLaren heads the table for the first time in a decade, while their number one driver Lando Norris is hard on the heels of Red Bull’s fading champion Max Verstappen.
WINNER: The NRL showdown
The great Aussie league pundit Matthew Johns put it perfectly, saying Penrith and Melbourne have been on a title collision course for months. Penrith stepped up a gear to crush the Roosters in their opening league playoff game, and Melbourne smashed the Sharks. It’s a two-horse race (famous last words).
LOSER: Test cricket
Test cricket is a game of haves (England, Australia, India) and have-nots (everyone else).
The genre hit another low point when the inaugural test between New Zealand and Afghanistan was abandoned without a ball being bowled, just the eighth time in history this has occurred.
Persistent rain at the venue in India robbed New Zealand of valuable warm-up action before series against Sri Lanka and India. It was a bitter blow for Afghanistan, who have struggled to line up major opponents since their first test in 2017.
