At least three national teams can smile again.
After years of neglect from national unions the players of Ireland, New Zealand and Wales are enjoying their rugby again, sure in the knowledge that the administrators are giving them improved backing.
Ireland
It was clear to see south of Tokyo in Shizuoka, where Ireland fought back from a daunting 0-15 deficit to take the match 57-22.
Everyone in the squad has had to accept they will be watching the World Cup at home. But the IRFU laid on their first ever summer tour away, a whole week in Japan, followed by two tests. It has had a bracing effect on everyone.
The head coach, Greg McWilliams didn’t let his concerns show. All his 7s players had gone, but he had confidence in the youngsters he picked in the back-line, (four debutants, three teenagers) to carry on the best traditions of Irish back play. Three of them scored debut tries and 19-year-old Dannah O’Brien took on what Stacey Flood had shown till her return to 7s: a sure left-foot off the tee and hands to set her line moving. Ireland have been hunting for a permanent holder of the number 10 shirt for a while. She is one to watch.
The pack is powerful and organised. With injured players returning to next year’s 6 Nations, the Girls in Green could make a statement.
One just has to feel sorry for former players who had to fight so long and hard for these improvements to be set on course.
New Zealand
The Black Ferns are bubbling too. Since the dramas of the last year, accusations and counter-accusations flying around, they have returned to their winning ways. After an undefeated Pacific-4 series, they saw off the Wallaroos in Christchurch with considerable ease – as they always do.
Their new coaching team is knocking them into shape, allowing them to ease the pain of last year’s Northern tour. They don’t forget it entirely; it showed them the gap that had to be closed to achieve what had always been assumed since World Rugby awarded them a first home World Cup.
Until that game against the Red Roses at Exeter, the world knew they would lift yet another trophy. But NZR’s neglect of the women’s programme showed that, when you stand still at the pinnacle, you are likely to be caught and even overtaken They have been moving fast ever since.
Wales (with a nod to Canada)
The WRU also offered its players their first summer trip abroad. They took wing westward to Canada, coming up against a side ranked five places higher than them – so a really meaningful challenge. After an extended camp they play the Maple Leafs next Saturday 27 in Halifax on the Atlantic Coast. Training has been ‘savage’.
It will be fascinating to see how close they can get to the hosts who haven’t been firing on all cylinders these past few months. But the Leafs beat Italy 34-24 in their first home international for seven years. Yes, seven.
And still many players have to make sacrifices with time off work and away from home for lengthy periods.
If the Welsh pack can stand up to the known strength of the Canadian pack, they are in with a sniff. The benefits will accrue in the longer run.
Two Unknowns
The world of rugby has yet to find out precisely how fast a national team can advance once contracts are delivered. We have only the English example to go by. Many suggest three years; but England were already ahead of the European pack long before their big offer came.
Every nation that has introduced or improved its player funding will certainly see improvements, but with the RWC barely six weeks away, managers planning for Cup success still need to be patient.
New Zealand’s programme was always a race against time. They have made huge advances, but the one element I keep harping on, experience, cannot catch up. Even the immensely skilled 7s stars, Ruby Tui, Tyla Nathan-Wong, Theresa Fitzpatrick, can hardly compensate for all the time they spent pursuing World Series stardom.
But at least they, like the two Celtic nations, are relishing the game, and that is what matters.
