On the eve of the business end of the women’s rugby season, I wanted to look back to where our Black Ferns began, the Farah Palmer Cup. The amateur women’s provincial competition will always hold a soft spot in my heart. It’s the place I got to face off with the best players in my region and around the country in my time in the Wellington jersey.
It’s current format is a relic of the before times. Before fully paid Black Ferns. Before Aupiki. Before the Pacific Four Series and the WXV. Before all that, we had this tournament. It was our first step to greatness but she’s looking a little tired this year. No wonder when for so long, she held the hopes for all that our game could be on the shoeiest of shoestring of budgets.
I’ve taken a step back to look at the situation beyond the lopsided scoreboards. It’s a sports classic of trying to wedge a three tier playing base into two divisions. The result? A bitter fight to avoid relegation and win promotion without playing a dedicated match for this privilege. A yo-yoing of teams in the middle of the overall pecking order between the two divisions. And a couple of sides getting publicly kicked by everyone.
So how do we set up something better? Well, funny you should ask I do actually have a pitch for you. And no, it’s not a complete overhaul! It’s a return of a classic with a modern day twist. I want to bring back crossovers.
This is not the mishmash chaos of the earlier iterations circa 2017-2018. Which only really underlined the existing predicament. No, I’m proposing a three part crossover series which plays to our three tiers of development - Established, evolving and emerging. Giving all teams an extra two matches a season and a little something extra to play for.
1. Intra division crossovers
These crossovers are the closest to what existed in the earlier versions. In 2017, we had a perfect example of this done right with the eventual winner of the inaugural Championship, Bay of Plenty, drawing with Auckland 10-10, in the opening round.
That was a good crossover but those years also featured some truly terrible ones. Like when Wellington put 118 unanswered points on Taranaki or when Auckland posted 86 points over Tasman. What was the point in that, honestly? Not helping anyone.
That’s why my pitch for intra division crossovers is limited to the bottom three sides in the Premiership and the top three in the Championship. Each of these teams will play two crossovers each. And one of these matches it the one we’ve all be waiting for - a promotion and relegation sudden death!
For the purposes of timely scheduling, this match would take place within a month of the finals. The winner would be assigned 7th place in the Premiership and the loser 1st place in the Championship to allow the assignment of these crossovers for the season ahead.
2. Heartland crossovers
Okay, so I hated the beat ups where we sent the lower ranked Championship sides to the slaughter against higher ranked Premiership teams. I do however want these teams to get more game time against other emerging provinces. So we can give more opportunities to grow the game across the country.
Heartland women’s rugby is slowly finding it’s feat. With more organised Heartland matches popping up over the last couple of years. Let us further incentivise those efforts and strengthen the pathways for women in our regions by establishing crossovers between the Championship and Heartland teams.
I am reminded in this pitch that it was a development Auckland side travelling the regions that uncovered the talent of a young Eloise Blackwell. The future Black Fern captain and Auckland Storm stalwart having recently moved to the mainland after growing up on Great Barrier Island. Imagine how many other Blackwell’s there are waiting to be discovered. Perhaps such a crossover would give them a better chance to be seen.
3. International friendlies
The international women’s calendar have become more concrete over the last couple of seasons. As a result, we have seen the Farah Palmer Cup sneak further forward in the annual calendar. This now positions our opening rounds in a warm-up window for our sisters representing Oceania Rugby in the WXV.
Now, let me get a couple of things clear here. Firstly, the timing might not work in a World Cup year. And secondly, this offer is fully open to the international sides to make use of it as they best see fit. Is that running development teams? Is that testing combinations? That’s up to them. But it’s beyond time that we offered a more regular commitment to our neighbouring nations.
Rugby in Aotearoa, across both the men’s and women’s game owes a great debt to these countries. How many of their sons and daughters have shaped our style of play on the world stage and developed our game domestically.
Offering crossovers against our top Farah Palmer Cup teams is the least we can do to be honest. In some cases these matches will feature a remix of the current player pool. Running out for their heritage against the provincial home. Rather than fear the development of the teams within the Oceania Rugby Championship, let’s support it.
The more quality rugby we have played in our part of the world, the better the health of our game. Just look at the impact of PWR on the whole of the Six Nations. The Farah Palmer Cup could be the first step to doing the same, in our own unique way.
With you,
Alice
I really like your idea of introducing international friendlies with FPC teams, even if it means some FPC players turn out for their country of origin. This could be a great way to raise the level of competition in the region, allowing players to represent both their heritage and home provinces. The more high-quality rugby we have in our part of the world, the better for everyone involved.
Nick HKG