Of course the Womens Rugby Cup only had 3 teams I understand of professional players - NZ, England & France. Running around beating up on students, office workers, stay at home mums and the like.
I mean more, NZR managed a fast turnaround from Black Ferns losing heavily to both England & France in late 2021, and looking miles off the pace, with apparently a bit of a toxic playing/coaching environment - to beating both those teams a few months later. They recognised the issues, and made some smart appointments to try fix it. That's the comparison heading into a home WC very very soon.
I mean more, NZR managed a fast turnaround from Black Ferns losing heavily to both England & France in late 2021, and looking miles off the pace, with apparently a bit of a toxic playing/coaching environment - to beating both those teams a few months later. They recognised the issues, and made some smart appointments to try fix it. That's the comparison heading into a home WC very very soon.
The thing is NZR is soo much more professional and organised the NZF. We have been a shambles forever. Think how much better both the men's and women's game would be if they were running the show.
NZR IMO is a shambles, nothing professional about them. I have mentioned before that club Rugby is dying, Ranfurly Shield Fever is dead as is the NPC. Twenty years ago, stadiums were full for NPC games and last year's Waikato v Auckland game attracted a few hundred. Compare the number of Rugby Club teams with Football Club teams and you will see that Football is 4 to 5 times larger in terms of participation.
NZF is very disappointing. With basic issues such as recruitment, I doubt whether they seek any HR expertise given the many cocks that have been made on this front.
Yes very true at that grass roots, NPC level. But they have also got a lot right in the last 20 odd years at the elite, ABs level especially. NZ has a smaller rugby playing base than England, France & South Africa. And until the Silver Lake deal alot less cash than RFU England for sure.
Yet since rugby went professional the ABs have had a truly excellent 80% plus winning record. The rugby pyramid of schoolboy-club/NPC/age group-Super Rugby-ABs works very very well to make sure talented players are tracked closely, with not many falling through the cracks. It's a very centralised pathway managed by NZR that produces a stream of high class skilled players, plus importantly a big number of high class coaches. Note how NZers coach many of the world's international teams. Yes it's a tiny pond World Rugby compared to football, but the number of Kiwis coaching at a high level is still impressive. There is alot NZR got very right in the Steve Tew era.
Big Pete's comments above are interesting. A mate who works for Olympics NZ, had some less than flattering comments about dealing with the Ferns, them having overinflated opinions of themselves considering they only had to bully OFC teams to make an Olympiad.
At the risk of going overboard on the rugby analogies, in 2004 the first year Henry, Hansen & Smith took over the ABs - they viewed about halfway through the season an unprofessional, heavy drinking environment and it all came to a head when they got thrashed by the Boks in Sth Africa. Had an inhouse meeting with some senior players, incl a young Richie McCaw (captain in waiting). Went for a no dick head selfish culture (so basically end of careers of guys like Spencer, Justin Marshall etc), and adopted a team first ethos with senior players sweeping out the changing rooms after training etc. Young players encouraged to speak up in meetings etc. No one bigger than the team
It takes courage for any coaching setup to come into a long established international team, shake it up and make sweeping changes with a view they benefit in the longer term. But the best coaches often have that courage. Certainly likely why NZR plumped for Smith with the Black Ferns, as he'd sort of been there done that with the ABs.
I don't agree with everyting SN scribbles at all, but his view that an unconfident Klimkova is under the spell of Riley & others of the old guard may not be far from the truth.
NZ Rugby's problems start from the bottom up. If the foundations are not right then the game will crumble from the top. Where are all of the talented young players bursting onto the scene such as we had twenty odd years ago?
We have colleges who cannot field a team. You may have read the article a couple of years ago regarding Nae Nae college who only had 4 boys wanting to play Rugby. The 4 players joined up with Hutt Valley High which has a roll of 2k and they could only muster 3 teams.
The All Blacks recent form is not great. They lost to Ireland for the first time a few years ago and got dicked last season by Ireland at home. Ireland has less players than Taranaki Rugby, it is a very, very minor sport in Ireland.
Rugby in Aussie is about their 5th or 6th largest sport so no one really cares a toss. NZ Rugby also have a history of churning out bullshark. They claimed that 4 Billion viewers would watch the 2011 World Cup and also claimed that it was the World's third biggest sports Tournament.
Sure, NZ Football have been poor for decades but the comparison with NZ Rugby does not stack up IMO.
Sure rugby is 2nd now to football in Auckland and Wellington but it’s still the number 1 code everywhere else in NZ. If not always participation wise then certainly profile wise. Don’t forget the average adult will retire from rugby much earlier than football due to its pure high collision nature. I played rugby into my mid twenties (plus a lot of medium distance running) and had hip resurfacing surgery done early at age 48. There are far more Masters leagues in the round ball code.
But those guys who stopped playing rugby at school still strongly follow it. The talent is still coming through, it will just year upon year have an every increasing Polynesian look to it’s elite playing base. Sort of head in a NFL direction where most kids stop playing at school, and increasingly only those looking to be pro players continue playing. I wouldn’t rule out an upset ABs win at the World Cup this year
Rugby in Ireland is yipe behind football, hurling and Gaelic football but it has a strong following. They pack out the 60,000 Avía Stadium for Irish internationals. It’s the one code that has a unified Ireland team. They have actually adopted a bit of a centralised NZ model with their 4 provinces, and yes certainly now bounce above their weight off a smallest player base.
But in summary I’d agrue NZ Rugby have got alot (though far from everything) right in that elite player space, with a very effective clear pyramid pathway. But yes they have definitely dropped the ball re the amateur/club/NPC base and player numbers will continue to fall. Though I’m not sure it will hurt the ABs/Super Rugby much, as most of that fall out will be skinny Pakeha kids who were never going to be Richie McCaw anyways. It will go more like the NFL
Can NZF learn much from NZ Rugby? Probably not. How likes of Croatia, Uruguay & Iceland pull above their football weights maybe of more relevance. Or if we are talking the Women’s game, Canada which has become a powerhouse of recent times