Fall-out from an unsuccessful Tour
The first fall-out from the Black Ferns’ tour of Europe has come to light . It tells of an unsavoury reaction to a run of defeats.
Te Kura Ngata-Aerengamate’s recount of her post-match treatment is difficult to read, from a distance of 12,000 miles we can only begin to guess all that lies behind it.
What is plain is what we could all see happening on the pitch, live or on screen. In the first match at Exeter the Black Ferns’ line-out fell apart. The ball went on going squint. Whose fault was that? How would a head coach react to this (relatively common) failing?
The hooker, Ngata-Aerengamate, was removed to the bench for the Northampton match.
In her version of events what then happened is a classic case of a staff refusing to carry blame for what goes on on the pitch. She was called out for her incompetence. The vindictive nature of the comments she tells us she faced must call into serious question the future of the person(s) responsible.
A management that belittles its players should enjoy a very short life.
Ngata-Aerengamate is an experienced player, eight years in the squad, and the barbed comments made to her weren’t restricted to the recent tour.
Quite apart from their unacceptable nature, the question arises: if she was deemed to be so incompetent, why was she retained in the best women’s team in the world?
It will be revealing to see how the NZR board reacts to her statement. In very recent history other coaches have paid for their team’s defeats. How will the current NZ coaching staff defend themselves?
