How NZR plans to keep Black Ferns at the top
New Zealand Rugby has acknowledged that gaps remain in the high performance structure for women’s rugby but has vowed to ‘‘step it up’’ to keep the Black Ferns at the top of the game.
The world champions’ status was confirmed at World Rugby’s awards ceremony yesterday as Wayne Smith, Ruahei Demant and Ruby Tui picked up gongs, but Smith’s departure leaves the Black Ferns in search of a new head coach and they have gone from the hunter to the hunted over the past six months.
NZ Rugby knows the pressure is now on to build on that success, with the next Rugby World Cup to be held in England in 2025.
‘‘We have significant plans to build out and enhance the highperformance structure for women so that it is sustainable and aligned across provincial unions, Super Rugby Aupiki teams and national teams,’’ Chris Lendrum, NZ Rugby general manager, professional rugby and performance told Stuff.
’’We will be making a number of key announcements through the summer period that will illustrate these plans.
‘‘In spite of the Black Ferns’ amazing success, we are not fooling ourselves that we are anywhere near at our best in terms of the support structures for women’s high performance rugby in New Zealand, and we know we are going to have to step it up even further to achieve our goal of sustained success for the program.’’
The admission that more needs to be done is very much in line with the view at the coalface, with Super Rugby Aupiki coaches Crystal Kaua (Chiefs Manawa) and Victoria Grant (Hurricanes Poua) telling Stuff last week that the women’s game was crying out for more resources.
However, Lendrum said the base of professional players was growing strongly and was seen as ‘‘critical’’ by NZ Rugby.
‘‘There were 41 players on full-time Black
Ferns contracts in 2022, including a number of players added to the group during the course of the season,’’ he said. ‘‘We had an additional 25 players on full time Black Ferns Sevens contracts, so the professional base is growing considerably.
‘‘There will also be 112 players including the Black Ferns contracted to Super Rugby Aupiki squads for the duration of the expanded fiveweek tournament in 2023, and increased support structures will enhance the growth of these players as athletes and people.’’
With an eye on the Rugby World Cup in 2025, NZ Rugby also put the prospect of longer-term contracts on
the table. It’s understood that the current contracts renew after Super Rugby Aupiki, so it would not be a surprise to select Black Ferns locked away until 2025 after that.
‘‘We have a shorter runway to the next Rugby World Cup and it is critical we start planning for that now,’’ Lendrum said. ‘‘That includes player contracting as well as team management appointments ... we will absolutely look at longer term contracts for the right players who we believe have the attributes to help the Black Ferns win the next World Cup.’’
The contracting picture in the women’s game is complicated slightly by the fact that some players can switch between Sevens and the 15s, and it was revealed yesterday that a number of Sevens stars would miss Super Rugby Aupiki next year.
Black Ferns stars are also now likely to be coveted by other competitions and codes, with the NRL Women’s Premiership and England’s Premier 15s the obvious examples.
However, Lendrum said NZ Rugby was satisfied its program would keep the best talent in New Zealand.