A Resignation
The decision of Belinda Moore, CE of the English PWR, to resign leaves a pile of urgent questions unanswered.
Why does she take this abrupt decision just as the PWR starts its second season? She could hardly have chosen a more inappropriate moment.
The board’s reaction makes clear that it was not expecting the news. They don’t have a ready replacement lined up. So the due processes must now take place to fine down a list of hopeful applicants.
But the task of the people in charge is not easy. They set out a list of ambitious targets as the new league set up for the inaugural season. Among the most important were sponsorship and media coverage. I am not convinced that either has yet been fulfilled.
Who will feel able to fulfill these aims; or will they be adjusted in the light of current circumstances? At the time, Moore’s desire to see the league fully professionalised across a ten- year growth struck me as implausible; it still does.
New Zealand Battles
A Kiwi Ferns squad has been announced. Clarification: that is a Rugby League squad, not Rugby Union.
Ricky Henry, their head coach, was delighted to see its strength. The downside for New Zealand Rugby is that the KFs operate as part of the Australian NRLW, Australia being the one nation that takes RL really seriously. The league comprises ten clubs.
Fears have long been expressed in NZ that players would be attracted away to the NRLW, which enjoys widespread sponsorship and TV coverage. The Black Ferns are not the only players to be stretched across both 7s and 15s, but this third alternative path exists, making it harder for them to maintain the high standards they have known for decades.
Almost everything Henry claims can only hamper those achievements. For example, matches will be played in Christchurch in South Island, where Black Ferns have long been less prominent. Can the two squads (7s and 15s) really thrive without big names like Tyla King and Stacey Waaka?
The final WXV match against France will give us some indication of future prospects.
Wales – where do we go from here?
It’s no secret that the Welsh squad and their management are under huge pressure.
They have one remaining WXV2 match against the Sakura of Japan. If they lose it, they face the prospect of descending to WXV3, though that isn’t a given. So who did Ioan Cunningham pick to play?
Most fans expected changes, but how many and who? In the event he has made three, though it’s open to doubt whether they will prove the correct and sensible ones.
The one enforced change sees Kayleigh Powell take the 10 shirt, as Lleucu George suffered a leg injury that has forced her to return home. Abbie Fleming replaces Georgia Evans at lock; Sisilia Tuipulotu starts at tight-head.
The choice of Powell reveals the lack of player-depth; she is best known as a full-back. Fleming adds height to the pack, but not the brawn of Evans.
Will Cymru finally achieve the standards they show in the PWR?
The Squad
15 Jasmine Joyce 14 Carys Cox 13 Hannah Jones (captain) 12 Hannah Bluck 11 Nel Metcalfe 10 Kayleigh Powell 9 Keira Bevan 1 Gwenllian Pyrs 2 Carys Phillips 3 Sisilia Tuipulotu 4 Natalia John 5 Abbie Fleming 6 Alisha Butchers 7 Alex Callender 8 Bethan Lewis
16 Molly Reardon 17 Maisie Davies 18 Donna Rose 19 Georgia Evans 20 Kate Williams 21 Sian Jones 22 Robyn Wilkins 23 Courtney Keight
