We’ve reached a break in major test rugby.
The WXV, completed in November, meant no autumn tests and shunted the start of the European leagues back a month or more. HSBC Sevens have got under way in Dubai, but Super Aupiki in New Zealand won’t start till March next year. That’s when the Six Nations kick off too.
It gives us a chance to take stock, but we must remember that, just as in politics, nothing stands still in sport. Here’s a look at three leading nations.
First the Black Ferns
Never has the meaning of Aupiki held so much relevance: ‘the ascent to the uppermost realm’. When the word was chosen for the new competition two years ago, it must have been seen as a way of ensuring that the Black Ferns maintained their long-term dominance on the world scene.
For the home World Cup it worked, just. The Ferns beat France by a point and England by three.
Since then, results have worsened, bringing to mind the calamitous European tour of 2021. In WXV1 the Ferns went down to both Les Bleues (again by one point) and the Red Roses by a comfortable margin of 21.
Every effort is being made to step up the quality of Super Aupiki. NZR is increasing and extending payments beyond contracted Black Ferns. The four squads are up to 30 each, two larger than before. But a wider choice for the selectors also means fewer opportunities for individual players to make their mark – a feature already visible in the new PWR league in England.
When Kiwis dissect the result of that last WXV1 game, they prefer to underline the length of exposure to professionalism: some eighteen months for them, around six years for the Red Roses. The NZR board can be held responsible for their delayed adjustment to full-time contracts. They are playing catch-up.
What is less often commented on is the sheer quality of the English players. The starting fifteen at Mt Smart was far different from any side a fan or even a selector might have imagined six months earlier. Even then, they were superior in most departments of the game, certainly up front, where most games are won and lost.*
So Allan Bunting has the task of finding players to match the quality of England’s front row (starters and finishers); then locks of the quality of Zoe Aldcroft and, English fans must hope, Abbie Ward too. The back rows were more even, but even there, England held the trumps.
Then he has his real problem: once he has established his first-choice pack, he has to be sure that the bench measures up equally well. Louis Deacon was prepared to leave thirteen of this starters on for most of the final, quite content that they had enough petrol left in the tank – that should now read, enough power in the battery; rugby players run on electricity these days.
The Black Ferns will continue to suffer from their geographical isolation. Their praiseworthy run of victories came against sides that couldn’t test them as France and England were to. WXV will help, but only partially.
France
Like the Black Ferns, les Bleues were in the hands of relative newcomers on the staff. Of the trio, Gaëlle Mignot, David Ortiz and Sylvain Mirande, only Mignot had direct experience of the big time – and much of that had been marked by final disappointments such as her current squad now suffered. When you consider that she is a mere two years older than Marlie Packer, you can sense that she is still in the earliest stages of her coaching career.
One background feature I didn’t enjoy was the lengthy speech-making of both the co-coaches. Their pre-match rhetoric seemed to go on and on. Did the players really need it? Did it inspire them to greater deeds? The contrast with Simon Middleton’s more measured approach was striking.
As I have outlined before, French criticism of their results (one win, two losses) centred on selections. Why leave players like Pauline Bourdon and Gabrielle Vernier on the bench when a game is slipping away? Great store was laid on the quality of the younger element. They are very talented, but they surely needed more wise old heads around them at the sticky moments.
The defeat of the Black Ferns was a huge achievement, but the subsequent losses against sides they were expected to see off leaves big question-marks against the direction of travel. Another new captain was appointed: Manae Feleu was a fitting choice as a player familiar with New Zealand and its language, but will she retain her position come the next Six Nations? Gaëlle Hermet was still the player to rouse the troops when the going got tough, not Feleu, nor Audrey Forlani, the previous captain.
The management has important problems to solve. I won’t enter the quagmire of the 7s/15s debate here.
England
For all their evident supremacy the Red Roses face an uncertain future.
In the New Year they will meet their new head coach, John Mitchell, for the first time on the training field. We still don’t know officially who his assistants will be, but if he does make alterations, there may well be rioting in the streets.
Then he has really ticklish problems to solve. By 23 March he will have decided who plays where, who starts and who finishes. For him it’s a matter of picking from a well-stocked orchard; for the players there is always the fear that they may not get the nod they expected.
When we consider the distance they set between themselves and the Black Ferns in the WXV1 final, we should recall all the players Louis Deacon did not have at his disposal. In the front row, Vickii Cornborough and Amy Cokayne; at lock Abbie Ward; in the back row Poppy Cleall and Sadia Kabeya; at half-back Leanne Infante, Lucy Packer and Zoe Harrison; in the centre Emily Scarratt. Imagine choosing most of them: who do you then omit from your 23?
One of Mitchell’s current tasks will be reviewing every second of every game in the PWR. He has a lot of players to get used to, quite apart from the contracted elite; new players are making their mark almost every week. This is one area where bringing a stranger in as head coach was less than ideal.
It’s your chance to write down the 23 you think will don the white shirt against the Azzurre in late March. It isn’t the result that is of prime importance; it’s getting the selections right, and being fair to everyone concerned.
*For a thoughtful dissection of that final from an unbiased observer, I recommend https://ladiesrugbyclub.blogspot.com/2023/11/wxv-1-ecco-come-linghilterra-ha-battuto.html.
Translations are readily available.
