The Red Roses walk empty away
How did the red-hot favourites come to lose yet another world cup final, when everything seemed to favour them? Here are a few discussion-points.
The shortest answer would be: the Black Ferns encouraged some of their greatest Sevens players to switch across to the Fifteens game.
Sevens
Kiwi experts had argued over the wisdom of bringing those stars into camp, when the Sevens world cup was being held so soon before in Cape Town. Joanna Grisez was a sole example in the French squad. For the Black Ferns Ruby Tui, Sarah Hirini, and Theresa Fitzpatrick all took up the challenge.
Stacey Fluhler and Portia Woodman had switched in time for the autumn tour of 2021.
They all proved that it is possible to transfer the skills required within a very short space of time.
The England squad contained a number of ex-Sevens players, but none of the quality of the Kiwis.
Cards
Within the highly eventful game itself, the pivotal moment came when the Ferns attacked dangerously down their left flank. Lydia Thompson didn’t have time to set herself properly for her tackle; she was still in the vertical as she slammed into her old foe, Portia Woodman, head to head. Once Hollie Davidson reviewed the scene in detail, there was only one outcome available to her, a red card.
That will please Mark Reason, the former English rugby journalist now based in New Zealand, who wrote a carping piece about the referees’ lax control of high tackles across the tournament. Earlier he had warned the Black Ferns to look out for ‘guillotining’ by the French. Charming. Yet it was a highly respected English player in her third world cup who paid the penalty. And then Kennedy Simon got away with a yellow when some observers – including Reason? – might have demanded red.
That left the Red Roses having to hang on with fourteen players for over three-quarters of the game.
They did so staggeringly well, scoring 17 points.
That leaves the inevitable question: what if? If England had kept 15 players on the field, would they have won? Yes!
The Way it went
Middleton had collected a leadership team within the squad, so that half a dozen players were used to taking decisions on the hoof. But as the game wore on, there were fewer and fewer of them left on the paddock. Leanne Infante was missing entirely; Zoe Aldcroft went off afer 30 minutes for an HIA she didn’t survive. Poppy Cleall replaced Sarah Hunter at half-time. That may have been the pre-match arrangement, or a response to the situation they found themselves in. They still had a seven-point lead, but a single try can obliterate it in a trice.
Did they continue the most sensible policy as the game drew on and bodies wearied? They weren’t getting rewarded at the driving maul, a fertile source of penalties these days.
They finished the game camped on the Kiwi line. That was a defence of the 6/2 split. But two golden chances to score went abegging. They opted against a straightforward three points to equal the scores; then a line-out, normally a sure-fire winner, failed them.
The Management
There will be the traditional post-tournament review. It would be fascinating to know who precisely will form the committee that undertakes it.
It didn’t take long for brickbats to be aimed at the bosses. A central issue was and remains the choice of the three No 9s. It was made all the more acute by the critical absence of Leanne Infante. But would Mo Hunt’s presence in those last moments have made a helpful difference?
Yes.
My one concern abut the choice of Lucy Packer was her size, the smallest and lightest of the 32-strong squad. I imagined back-row forwards fancying their chances against her near the line.
One photo from the final makes the point even clearer. It shows Amy Rule, the prop forward, powering over to score. Packer, who lacks nothing in courage, makes a desperate effort to hold her off and fails.
The scrum-half call became even more pertinent once Middleton decided on that 6/2 split between the forwards and the backs. With Infante’s absence and the unwelcome card for Thompson, the cupboard was looking bare. The most obvious forward to be asked to shift into the backs was Alex Matthews, an accomplished Sevens exponent. But she had been putting herself about even more in Thompson’s absence.
Middleton used that bench ratio for the opening match of the New Zealand tour in October 2021. Understandably he wanted as much bulk as possible to meet what was expected to be a formidable Ferns eight. He placed Poppy Cleall in the second row, Zoe Aldcroft on the blind-side. In the event the move was found to be unnecessary.
But at Eden Park the foremost threat was bound to come from the backs. And it did, decisively.
I recall the video clip which showed the three Engtland coaches going through the final tour selections.
When it came to the 9s, Scott Bemand agreed without demur at Hunt’s omission. It wasn’t just Middleton’s personal choice.
Was it such a good idea to have this discussion publicised?
The Future
It was hardly credible to find Ruahei Demant quoted as saying post-match: ‘Probably most people here don’t even know that last year we went on the Northern tour and we got pumped’.
That shows how far back the Black Ferns had remained in the consciousness of the average New Zealander, obsessed as they were by the All Blacks. The organisers had to work incredibly hard to entice that record crowd along to Eden Park. They were helped by the displays the Ferns put on, especially in the semi against the French. And those last two opponents were the ones who had caused them so much grief last year. They saw both of them off by a combined total of four points, but according to the skipper, most of the nation knew nothing about recent history.
It was disturbing to see so many empty seats at the start of the bronze- medal match. The NZR has a lot of work still to do to awaken interest in the women’s game, hard though that is for other nations to believe.
For the England set-up, players, coaches, administrators, a lot changes. They failed by a narrow margin to reach the target they had set themselves. They will all be devastated. The future of the management comes into question: Middleton is contracted to the end of next season. He and Bemand have been in harness since 2015; Louis Deacon may find another coaching role an attractive alternative, just as a string of forwards coaches have done over the past five years.
Middleton has done an outstanding job over the past seven years. England have been ranked top nation since November 2020; they still are. That 30-match winning streak will take a lot of beating. He is an outgoing, industrious leader, who has spared nothing in bringing his players to such a sustained peak.
It would be a hard job finding a replacement with such a wide range of qualities. My one hope is that the decision-makers don’t look abroad; England has been embarrassingly dependent on overseas coaching talent in too many sports.
The National Sport
Which countries can claim that rugby (either Union or League) is its national sport? New Zealand, of course, and a scattering of Pacific archipelagos. And where else? Even Wales is no longer sure of that honour.
So despite its relatively small population of five million, Aotearoa gained its sixth world trophy.
Then we must recall what Demant said.
Retirements
The devastating reversal may alter some Red Roses’ view of their future. Five years ago four of them retired, two expected (Nolli Waterman and Rochelle Clark, and two less so (Izzy Noel-Smith and Kay Wilson).
This time round will the loss of the gold medal encourage players to stay on for another bid, or hasten their decision to hang up their boots?
Abbie Ward has indicated she will go on; Emily Scarratt may do so. For the rest, there is no need to rush to a decision. Any retirement would be a sad loss.
Although the tenth RWC is only three years away and takes place in England, that is still a big chunk out of a person’s life. Some of the squad have been playing the game since their infancy; only a very few, for example Claudia MacDonald and Shaunagh Brown, took it up much later.
The Red Roses’ legacy
The achievements of the Red Roses ever since 2017 are astonishing. They have built a huge following and reached playing standards unmatched by any other nation.
That is not due simply to their unique status as full-time professionals, as many nay-sayers would have us believe. The squad in Aotearoa, plus a goodly number who remained at home in Albion, are showing just how skilful and watchable women’s rugby can be.
