Wrap of Week 2
All the little bits from day 3&4 of the Rugby World Cup
It’s a type of tired that empties my brain. It’s not that it’s generally all that loud up there cause I’m a pictures not words thinker. When I’m switched on to something, it’s like my mind zooms out in every direction seeing all the potential connections and avenues you can go.
That’s what it’s been like over the last couple weeks and I’ve been zooming all over the place to try and capture some of the best bits to share with you. Come Sunday night though, it’s all but empty up there.
So I want to make sure to offer a special thank you to Honey Hireme-Smiler, who saw me last night and the wall I was hitting and offered me a place to stay in Auckland to save me driving to Whangārei while tired. This is just the latest example of the network of wonderful wāhine who have been housing me so far this World Cup. Thank you to Grace Houpapa-Barrett for offering me a space in Hamilton on my trip up North and to Katie Davidson for letting me stay at her place in Whangārei for a couple of weeks while she takes care of the Canadian Rugby team.
‘With you’ is the phrase you say to your teammates on the field so that you know you’ve got their back as they move forward. ‘With you’ has been the action of these teammates who have had my back as the tournament moves forward.
I bumped into John Campbell this morning and he quizzed me on the ins and outs of this tournament.
If I could pick a word to summarise this tournament so far, I would choose joyful. And that was the tone of the exchange I had with John Campbell this morning. I bumped into him and Matty McLean as I left the hotel this morning. It was Matty who spotted me first and greeted me warmly and then John, clearly keen to talk rugby, offered to walk me to my car so he could pick my brains.
He asked the same questions I think we all are this week, what comes next for our Black Ferns? Who will we have to face in playoffs? And who would you prefer, England or France?
So here’s my rapid reckons on these points.
Scrum Queens summarises the pathway to the cup better than I could here.
The thing to remember here is while the top two from pools plus the two best 3rd places go through, they will be ranked 1-8th with 1 playing 8, 2 playing 7 and so on.
Barring upsets this weekend, it is looking like NZ v Wales, France vs Italy and Canada v USA, England v Australia. This means could mean a gnarly semi is heading out way.For the Black Ferns, this means we may be meeting Wales and if it’s a replay of Sunday’s result, most likely France in the semi.
Who would I prefer to play France or England in the semi? It may sound surprising but England. I think they are an easier team to do your prep for as who knows what version of France may appear match to match.
I woke up Sunday morning still thinking about the French defence. It was one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen in the women’s game.
A revelation, in much the same way that the investment in 7s resulted in a width of pass in 15s that we haven’t seen before, this system is just plain scary. That that match finished with both sides with only one clean line break each, despite France making 214 tackles to England’s 75, that’s unreal.The old cliche is attack wins games but defence wins championships. It’s France who are the best defenders at this World Cup.
That’s the talking points done, here are the vignettes around the ground that brought the tournament to life.
Leaving the ground on Saturday night and bumping into the security guard who was passing the time by practicing her poi. I joked to her that she must be practicing for Matatini and she informed me yes, day two and dropped the name of her group which unfortunately, my brain was too tired to retain.
Meeting Namz, who is involved with Rugby for Life Japan, a charity who are looking to empower more women and girls in rugby. Another example of the labour of love that many in the crowd are undertaking to grow the game.
Seeing Rosy again, dancing up a storm as she celebrated Italy’s opener!
Having Delwyn Fraser escort me to the media centre on Sunday. I quoted Delwyn at the end of this piece on Geri. Was still waking up and I’m ashamed to say I didn’t immediately recognise her! But she shared with me that she had signed up as a volunteer at the end of the rugby season. Delwyn already does a heap for rugby community in the Bay of Plenty, so it’s not surprising (but is impressive!) that she opted to pitch in here too.
I finally met Jade Konkel-Roberts in the flesh. Have to admit, I was expecting her to be a bit more intimidating in real life giving what an enforcer she is on the pitch for Scotland but what a lovely gentle woman she is. Entirely gracious in defeat and looking forward to a hit out against New Zealand next week.
You couldn’t wipe the smile from my mug when Sarah Hunter called out to me on Saturday night and came over for a chat. I haven’t seen her since I played her while she was still up at Loughborough.
Sarah is a thoroughly decent human. She put her hand in her own pocket when the pain was being felt by school kids during covid, paying for the lunches of students at her old primary school. Sarah is a professional player sure but she is not a wealthy one. She’s just a bloody good egg. As a kiwi, I don’t think it would surprise anyone that I might find it a little difficult should England end up lifting the cup at the end of this tournament. Having said that, it would happily cheer for Sarah to lift it.Lastly, it really was a family reunion for me this weekend as I reconnected with my old team mate Tess Gard’ner. We played together as high schoolers for the Johnsonville Women’s team before Tess took off to play rugby around the world, including time with the Wasps and a match for the Barbarians before settling back in Auckland. We had good fun recreating this shot from 18 plus years ago!
How is it that Tess looks exactly the same despite being older than me?
For now it’s recovery for the next couple of days to leave it all out on the field again this weekend!
With you,
Alice