Ferns losses a wakeup call

Will it take a rude awakening at its own World Cup for New Zealand Rugby (NZR) to realise it’s fallen behind with its support for the Black Ferns?

It could be the wake-up call that’s needed, but it would also be an embarrassment if England or France were to run riot against the Black Ferns on Eden Park’s hallowed turf in a World Cup semifinal or final in front of a potential record crowd for the women’s game.

Imagine if the All Blacks suffered such a heavy defeat at home on the biggest stage? Radios would explode, the frothing, unhinged social media scribes would implode, and rugby’s fraternity would be reeling from its worst defeat since . . . the last one.

New Zealand hosts the showpiece women’s rugby tournament for the first time next October and November – 31 years after the first in Wales – after a 12-month delay because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

It’s staggering a team which has won five of the last six World Cups has never defended that title on home turf, or even in the southern hemisphere, and been exposed to the Kiwi public in familiar surroundings.

Next year’s edition is the first to be played outside the north, with seven in Europe and one in Canada in 2006.

The Black Ferns, who lifted the trophy in 1998, 2002, 2006, 2010 and 2017, have been one of the most dominant international teams in any sport.

However, they have been knocked off their perch by two heavyweight challengers from up north, England and France, who have battered the Black Ferns this month and set a new standard.

It’s not rocket science. The cashed-up English and French rugby unions have thrown more money at their women’s programmes since New Zealand won the right to host the World Cup in November 2018 – eight months after NZR announced it would give the Black Ferns semiprofessional contracts for the first time.

That was a landmark deal, but it’s England and France who are strong favourites for next year’s World Cup – not New Zealand – in what could be a watershed tournament for the women’s game.

The development of more professional domestic leagues in

England and France since has them streets ahead, while New Zealand’s equivalent, the inaugural Super Rugby Aupiki, doesn’t begin until March and lasts only four weeks.

Plans for such an elite women’s competition in Aotearoa were first considered by NZR in 2019, something that was needed because the Farah Palmer Cup can’t provide enough quality matches for players to comfortably transition to the more intense test arena.

Then, Covid-19 turned the world upside down and has been a massive financial hit for NZR.

The Black Ferns’ 2020 schedule of eight tests, including seven at home, was gone and nothing could be rearranged. They were absent from test rugby for 27 months after their last outing against Australia in August 2019.

While England and France clashed regularly in the quality Six Nations competition, the warning signs were there before Covid-19.

France beat the Black Ferns for the first time in 2018, then again a year later, and England’s rise to world No 1 has been on the cards since committing to fulltime contracts in 2019.

A weak Australia side, who have never beaten the Black Ferns and still not returned to play since Covid19, is another enormous problem, with a lack of competitive tests against their trans-Tasman neighbours.

The Black Ferns were once always the best regardless, despite a lack of support from the top, but they’re not any more.