News that Alana Borland is to follow Amy Rule to an English PWR club – in her case Trailfinders – brings a further worry for New Zealand Rugby.
For some time NZR has been troubled at the number of All Blacks attracted by big money to Japan. Now suddenly they have to worry about the disappearance of Black Ferns to England.
Borland, only recently married, was previously better known as Bremner, the younger of two BF sisters. She already has 28 caps to her name. In NZ terms that is equal to 78 or 88 in England. For Trailfinders she makes a handy replacement for Tyson Beukeboom and Rowena Burnfield, both among the sixteen leaving the club this summer.
We need to put the matter in context. One ongoing weakness of the women’s sector has been the lack of consistent high-level competition. Super Aupiki represents the pinnacle, but the four franchises produce a competition that finishes almost as soon as it begins. Unlike the ABs, they are offered precious few test matches beyond WXV and the occasional RWC.
That has left ambitious players looking for more opportunities; now the door opens to the PWR. In the past a number of Kiwis have found their way to England to play, but none of them had a reasonable chance of catching the national selectors’ eye.
As with the WER in the USA, the global calendar may help to ensure that competitions in different countries don’t overlap. The men’s game has got used to the tug-of-war over players based abroad not being selected for their national side. Let’s hope we are a long way from that sort of constraint in the women’s game.
A crown dislodged
The next issue is the end of inbuilt NZ superiority on the rugby field. The Black Ferns did win the last RWC final by a cotton-thread, but elsewhere their record is less glamorous. For the Ferns the WXV has added evidence of the advantages to be gained from operating abroad.
“We apologise for the delay”
This dramatic news from Christchurch adds to the anticipation of a statement from the PWR board. Will they, or will they not take action over the question of balancing native English players against the rest? Across sport as a whole, the emphasis is on the top players flying in to join this tournament and that, then leaving promptly for the next well-paid engagement. It’s called professional sport.
Infinite trouble is taken over contracts, so that clubs can be sure of retaining a player’s services for as long as possible, while their agents point out the next tempting offer to come their way from another continent. Ilona Maher couldn’t win the PWR trophy for Bristol Bears.
The nine clubs are awash with overseas players, and board members have expressed their delight that this is so. For as long as the Red Roses keep on winning matches, the board will feel they are doing their duty. If England lose the RWC final in the 84th minute to a dubious decision, they may have to think again. Try counting up the number of NEQPs each club has to see the scale of the problem.
And the future
Now we wait to see how many other Ferns are tempted to join the procession northwards. A trickle can soon become a torrent, as we saw when Rob Cain first recommended his USA Eagles moving to the then Premier 15s. Canadians rapidly joined in, and French-speaking Québécoises were equally happy to join French Elite 1 clubs. At least in their case, it has strengthened the national team enormously.
Parting shot
Does Borland’s arrival make up for Abby Dow’s departure? Hoho.
