Unpacking the RWC Black Fern Squad
Here's what to make of the team that will be mounting our World Cup defence
Before I begin I want to be sure in writing this to give a big mihi to my paid subscribers.
You made my coverage of the Farah Palmer Cup possible and you make this analysis possible. I know I don’t give you enough treats (stuff behind the paywall for your eyes only) but I think I’m right that you are on board with financing the coverage you want to see fullstop. It’s a team sport afterall. But please let me know if I’m missing the mark here and I’ll see what special stuff I can whip up for ya.
Here it is, your Black Ferns squad to compete at the Rugby World Cup
Let us start at the beginning of the formation of this squad by comparing it against the team that was named, just over a year ago, to go on that infamous Northern Tour.
We’ve seen a massive amount of moment in the last 12 months across the park and the team is now almost unrecognisable to the squad that went on tour.
Which brings me to the two things I will keep saying:
We are lucky that Te Kura Ngata-Aerengamate spoke up when she did. She gave us the reset that was necessary within the Black Ferns environment and we are in a much better place for our World Cup defence because of it.
If we do well, yes acknowledge the coaches but also acknowledge these wāhine too. These athletes have had a steep learning curve in the last 12 months, getting ready at a sprint. They have shown an immense amount of grace and resilience, both those in the final team and those that missed out. Very few sides would be able to thrive in this chaos.
The ins and outs of the last 12 months.
In laying this out we start to see just how much change we have been through. There is another layer that could be laid on top of this which is the shifts between the PAC4 and this squad but this is an overview, not a thesis.
It feels to me like the end of the beginning. This year, players mentioned to me how odd it felt to see so many new caps in the mix. Jerseys, that historically had only a handful of names attached to them, now have had a number of athletes pull them on. We are seeing a shift away from service and towards performance.
Back when the Black Ferns had a couple of tests each season, if we were lucky, you can see why you might stick with your tried and true. We weren’t investing in camps and certainly not wages, so you had to be the goods already fully formed. I’d be lying if there isn’t a bit of grief attached to this moment for me. On the above list of outs, there are many players who gave so much to the game here in Aotearoa and who did so in still a largely amateur area. They set standards when none were set for them, carrying on a proud traditional all of their own, showing other players what it was to be a Black Fern.
This just highlights, yet again, why we need to get better at recognising our history and celebrating those that shaped it. It would hurt less to lose these players from the side if we were sure we wouldn’t be losing all sight of them.
The last thing to be said in terms of wider context is this will be the last time we see such a large contingent of sevens players. For a long time, they have been called in to cover the underinvestment in our 15s programme. That works for the backline but not our engine room. With the advent of Aupiki and then introduction of the WXV next year, you can’t just look at the 15s team once every four years anymore. That increase in investment and visibility means it will be increasingly tough to jump between formats.
Here’s an absolute mess of facts for you
Shocks
No Kelly Brazier and no Chelsea Semple are the big ones. They kept trying to make Brazier play fullback which has never been her vibe and was silly given our slim pickings at 10, so she is out. Chelsea Semple is a surprise but probably fell victim to a lack of versatility when you are weighing up your choices in the midfield.
Victoria Subritzky-Nafatali appeared for a moment like she may be making her triumphant return. Having been in the wilderness since 2017, she’s now out due to injury. An ill-timed hit at a Black Ferns camp didn’t leave enough time for recovery and the new coaching team to get to know her. Vic has all the ingredients of being the Black Ferns Beaver though, so keep your phone on if you go whitebaiting sis, we may still need you yet!
Maybe slightly less shocking is Patricia Maliepo. Concussion kept her out of a lot of the action this year but I am still surprised we didn’t keep her in the mix to provide further depth at first five. We need to invest in her development as she will be a feature of future campaigns.
When you lay the team list from 2021 and 2022 next to each other, I think the other question mark has to be Les Elder. Something about her sudden fall from captain to non selection, just doesn’t sit right with me (see also Eloise Blackwell). I know professional sports is cutthroat but captains are a rare bread and deserve to be treated with more respect. She should have been given the respect of a match against Aussie to make her case for selection. If you’re making a call between Elder and Hirini, it’s a line one. I’m not sure I would have made the same choice for a 15s World Cup.
Bolters
If you’re one of my international pals, you may be looking at some names on this list and thinking who? 19 players in this 32 player squad have less than 10 caps for the Black Ferns and 9 of them have less than 5. We are taking a very green side into this tournament.
Our newest newbies are our props Santo Taumata and Awhina Tangen-Wainohu with just one cap each. This is wild. Are there any less experienced players, particularly in the front row heading to this World Cup? I say all this and yet, I love the way they play, both are line breaking, bone crushers. It’s just asking a lot of them to put them on this platform and I hope they have the right support around them, should it not go perfectly.
Amy du Plessis snuck in over top of Semple. I am not the most confident in this selection as I think du Plessis can have a tendency to hold when she should distribute. We have too much talent out wide to not unleash. It might be tough for her to get game time though as she will be competing with the other bolter, Logo I Pulotu Lemapu Atai’i (Sylvia) Brunt.
Brunt is the baby of the team at just 18 years old. Hailing from Auckland, she hits the line like a hammer both in attack and defence. Brunt offers something different in our midfield, if we are needing to change things. She’s the player on the bench you bring on to open a game up.
The other players that make up the under 5 cap list have had such good form it’s surprising that they haven’t played more. Perhaps they would have had COVID not disrupted the programme over the last couple of season. Ruby Tui (4), Krystal Murray (4), Renee Holmes (4) and Tanya Kalounivale (4) are all in mix for starting spots and if you click their names you’ll see highlight reels as to why.
Swansongs
Graphic design is my passion.
Although we've come
To the end of the road
Still I can't let go
It's unnatural
You belong to me
I belong to yooooooooou
Okay, so Cocksegde is the only one I think to officially declare this World Cup as her last. But I don’t think it’s too much of a stretch to think the other players in their 30s might also be thinking this will be their last big dance.
So with this World Cup, the first on home soil, it will be goodbye to some of these legends that have put women’s rugby on the map. And for that reason alone, you should get ya bloody tickets already!
Extratime
This newsletter is already too long but here’s what I’ll leave you with. This team looks to be in a much better place than we were 12 months ago but the big question is, is that enough?
For the casual observers of women’s rugby in this country, they will be surprised to note that we are still very much underdogs going into this World Cup. We are so untested upfront that despite having so many tasty backline combinations, we have to wait and see whether this pack can build the platform we need for these stars to shine.
I am never without hope. The Black Ferns have never had a proper build up to a World Cup and yet we’ve won five of them. So if anyone can pull off a robbery, it’s our team.
With you,
Alice