A bunch of happy amateurs
an area that I looked at and thought we could make significant gains. It’s such an influential part of the game, it’s a fantastic attacking weapon and it can allow you to regain control of the game. It’s a work of art.’’
England’s professional art-work got torn down. Of course England’s defeat won’t stop the feministas from banging on about equality. But if the women want equality they should wait over one hundred years before their game goes professional. They should ban high street clothes shops like Zara and Top Shop from trading unless they can provide as big a choice of men’s clothes as women’s. That’s equality and of course it’s ludicrous.
But it doesn’t stop women like the Labour MP Dr Rosena Allin-kahn from writing to the the RFU and accusing it of being ‘‘far less than fully committed’’ to women players than men. Er, maybe that’s because four times as many men play the game. Er, maybe that’s because the RFU is a business and all its profits come through the top of the men’s game. Maybe this Polishpakistani Catholic-muslim would be better wondering why the Black Ferns, from all walks of life, were so diverse compared to the White Orcs.
So be happy Black Ferns, as you clearly are. What joy there was when
If you turn pro, you glorious women of the Black Ferns ... your lives will no longer be your own.
Charmaine Smith cleverly sneaked the ball out of the back of a two-man cohort that seemed about to charge and completely bamboozled England’s defence. Smarter and quicker in mind and body were New Zealand’s glorious group of amateurs.
George Nepia wrote of the 1924 Invincibles in his autobiography of 1963: ‘‘We were absent from New Zealand for eight months and I defy anyone to prove that the rush and bustle of today, the pursuit, so it seems to me, of profit out of the players, can provide the enjoyment and the relaxation that we encountered.’’
George played better with a drink on the night before a match. It helped calm his fevered brain. George played better with a good breakfast of bacon and eggs. He had no time for the ‘‘faddists’’.
If you turn pro, you glorious women of the Black Ferns, then you will be surrounded by faddists. They will tell you how to train. They will tell you what to eat. They will even tell you how to think. I’m sure you get a little bit of that already, but it will be a thousand times worse. Your lives will no longer be your own.
Maggie Alphonsi could probably have made money from athletics. But there was something about rugby. She wasn’t going to get paid to play for England then. But she loves the sport. She played with joy and fire.
Alphonsi wrote: ’’I would say do what’s important for yourself, don’t think too far ahead about the awards and achievements that may come from the sport, think about the activity – if it makes you happy, you should pursue it.’’ Northland Hawke’s Bay Southland At AMI Stadium: Canterbury 30 Otago 24