The Black Ferns Squads

WXV and XV are so totally different okay?

I say it all the time but please stop copying and pasting things from the men’s game to the women’s. If you read the NZR Governance review of a couple of weeks ago, this underlined my point. It laid plain how Super and NPC don’t work together in our domestic market. They bleed the fans interest, the players energy and the coffers dry. So it’s so cool that the pathway for our games growth has just copied off this model of failure. Thanks guys.

My latest frustration with this administrative shortcut is Black Ferns XV. To launch a new team under this name the SAME DAY as you launch your Black Ferns WXV squad is just ridiculous. We have basically given no airtime to the new World Rugby competition which will kick off shortly and then we’ve further muddled things by naming two squads virtually the same thing.

As a result a bunch of folks were in my DMs Monday, asking who the heck this team was. If you were a fan who knew the squad was being dropped Monday and were served up the XV squad on social media, it was no wonder you were left asking questions.

They have called the Black Ferns development team this purely to align with All Black branding. Who cares if you confuse Black Ferns fans in the process. FOR FUCK SAKE!

I have a whole longer rant about this and what it says about the tangled mess which is the senior women’s rugby environment in my column in the Herald on Sunday (paywalled sorry fam). But for the meantime, let’s actually look at the players themselves and insights they offer up.

I’m going to go ahead and say it, Ruby Tui is bloody lucky to have made this squad. Kelsey Teneti and Tenika Willison are assumed to be back on sevens duty ahead of next year’s Olympics and Ayesha Leti I’iga currently out with a knee injury. So the door was left open, just a crack, for her to slip through. No doubt though that Tui will take full advantage of this opportunity.

Martha Mataele’s call up is a reward for good form. She’s been game breaker for both Canterbury and Matatū and has shown range by playing in the midfield this FPC season. Consistent standards are also what has given Sophie Fisher and Chryss Viliko the nod here. Fisher conversion from lock to prop a happy one as are most of those she kicks off the tee. Chryss Viliko is a zippy and powerful front rower. Her ACL troubles now appear well behind her (knocking on wood!).

I’m excited to see Layla Sae in black. She’s always been a standout in teams even if they aren’t quite performing around her. She’ll only have her job to do in this Black Ferns team so I can’t wait to see what havoc she’ll bring.

Patricia Maliepo, Ariana Bayler, Natalie Delamere and Charmaine Smith all get recalled. The story amongst these being Smith. She retired from rugby having been told she had suffered a career ending injury. Only to be retested after the birth of her daughter to find she had miraculously healed.

This cop is always working. Smith’s instagram documenting her determined return to match fitness and the new balance she’s had to strike as a new mum. I interviewed her last year about her advocacy in this space in the Northland Kauri team. Her form in that team this year, a key part of their championship run.

As for those that miss out, the most surprising to me are Joanah Ngan-Woo and Kendra Reynolds. Unlike Grace Brooker, Grace Gago and Esther Faiaoga-Tilo, they don’t feature in the XV development squad either. I guess this will be a case of “We know what you can do but what to see if others can do it better.” but I don’t know. Both are great players and game changers too.

As for Pip Love, I think this is more of a changing of the guard. She’s been shown up a couple of times this year by the other emerging talent in the front row. She’s not necessarily doing anything wrong, there’s just others who are bringing a little more to the table. That’s just part of the rugby lifecycle.

Overall though, I like the way this team is moving. It’s great to see form being rewarded and while I can ask questions of those that miss out, you can also make a strong case for each that have been called in. The plan this year was to build depth and by the end of the year we could see 13 new Black Ferns having made their debut.

What’s interesting is the spread of these players, should all named play it’ll be four new props, one hooker, two flankers, one halfback, one first five and four outside backs. That’s the makings of a whole new team.

This development team will be assembled for one week before their one off game against the Manusina XV (Samoa) ahead of their trip to WXV2. Which is doesn’t seem all that developy if I’m honest.

If the selection process was anything like the last development side assembled in 2019, it is no wonder that 37% of those named haven’t yet played above FPC. That year, our Pride management team just mentioned at the end of one of our trainings that there was a trip to Fiji coming up. We were told to “Just let them know if you’re interested”. It was never very clear how they actually assembled the team from there.

I say this because the key piece of infrastructure that still appears to be missing from our system is talent scouts. It used to be that we had a range of these around the country. For example, the marvellous Sue Garden-Bachop was a selector for the 1998 World Cup. This appears to have fallen to the wayside which leads to coaches lobbying on behalf of their players.

Is it any wonder then that this is such a Canterbury heavy side? They are the most functional provincial union and they are the only team with a full time coach.
They know how to play this game.

I believe this is why so many of us are left scratching our heads when it comes to the naming of Aupiki squads and now this development team. Because it all appears more random than strategic. While we aren’t sending scouts around the country, NRLW sure is. So we need to get on the front foot yesterday to make sure we are identifying and communicating with our more ambitious players.

I say all this but don’t mean any disrespect to those named. I am excited for them to get a chance to play and what a treat to see Manusina get a run. My concerns are with the system, not the individuals. One that seems to be climbing all over itself in fits and starts, rather than running like a well oiled machine.

I really just don’t know what this team is for. Like Aupiki, its assembly is far too short to be impactful for the players or coaches involved. That so many players come to this team sidestepping Aupiki, proves yet again that our Super competition isn’t doing it’s job.

Stop teasing us. I don’t need another “good start”, I need an end to half measures.

With you,
Alice