It’s been well worth the wait.
Delayed by one year due to the global pandemic, the Rugby World Cup in New Zealand has set the nation alight. Women’s rugby and women’s sport are front and centre as Kiwis have fallen in love with the Black Ferns.
But what happens after the final whistle has blown in the highly anticipated final between the Black Ferns and England’s Red Roses on Saturday night - for women’s rugby and the Ferns?
How do New Zealand Rugby, World Rugby and sport in New Zealand capitalise on the unprecedented momentum this tournament has created?
Women’s rugby’s commercial rise
For a long time women’s rugby has not been given the investment opportunity, with the argument the ‘product’ is not entertaining or commercially valuable.
That argument is in the dark ages.
In her post-match speech to the Eden Park crowd Black Ferns co-captain Ruahei Demant said, beaming, “People are coming out to support women and women’s rugby like never before.”
You only have to ask anyone with a pulse (or who still has a pulse) after their 25-24 semifinal victory, and they’ll tell you that game was the most brilliant advertisement for rugby.
Sports marketing expert and former commercial director of NZ Rugby, Megan Compain, says the value of the Black Ferns playing in a home Rugby World Cup and making the final is immense, particularly after what the Black Ferns have been through over the past few years.
“The Black Ferns have already won,” says Compain, now director of EightyOneX. They’ve won on the pitch and off the pitch. They’ve engaged fans, they’ve got support, they’ve sold out venues and the commercial support should follow.
“We can’t ask them to do anymore with what they’ve proven to New Zealand and the world of how good they are, how worth watching they are.”
Black Ferns brand value
The Black Ferns brand is authentic, real and simply refreshing. We know this because of the groundswell of content that’s been produced – and long may it continue.
You don’t get the stock standard institutionalised answers from the players in interviews, they speak with real joy and their gratitude for this platform is obvious in their vivacious smiles.
“The next step has to happen from within - the systems and structures need to change in order to give the platform to play rugby and to be seen,” says Compain.
When the Black Ferns are visible, Compain says this gives commercial partners the confidence to invest in the national team long term.
“If commercial partners know where the Black Ferns are going to be because of a confirmed playing schedule, then they know what kind of return on investment they’re going to see because they’re going to visible, they’re going to be on the field,” she says.
“Big ups to sponsors like ASB, they haven’t waited to the end of this tournament to see the results. They’re going to come out a big winner and I have no doubt there’s going to be a lot more brands that will want to be associated with the Black Ferns.”
Bravo to Kiwibank, also, for jumping ahead of the queue in an individual partnership with Sarah Hirini as their ‘Whatu Kōkiri, Kiwibank Impact Champion’ announced during the tournament.
Capitalising on a different fan experience
Straight out of the gate, a festival-friendly sport entertainment vibe was pitched and lived through Eden Park on the opening tripleheader day with the Pātea Māori Club, Rita Ora, $10 kids tickets and free poi.
I took my six-year-old son and four-year-old daughter and they absolutely loved it – the fresh donuts on the way to our seats helped, but they’ve talked about it a lot since and my daughter now has a streak of red through her hair like her new hero, Ruby Tui.
Having attended a lot of live sport in my lifetime - and in particular a lot of men’s rugby - I’d have to say the fan experience was something I hadn’t felt in New Zealand.
And while I wrote my phone number down on my kids’ wrists on the opening night in case they got lost, it felt really safe; we didn’t have to worry about old mate calling the ref an ‘effing c’, or dodging beer bottles thrown during a Mexican wave.
We can’t provide the same package for men’s sport to women’s sport because it’s a different market. And maybe event organisers could incorporate some of this tournament’s atmosphere into our men’s sport. The organisers have shown you can re-write the script successfully to appeal to a different audience.
What now for coaching women’s rugby?
Back in April, the Black Ferns announced an overhaul of their coaching set-up – an extremely experienced band-aid was applied to an open wound.
How much of that current bandage (or coaching team) will come off after this Cup is yet to be determined. But what’s critical for the Black Ferns, to Super Rugby Aupiki, Farah Palmer Cup and the levels below, is that significant investment in coaching is essential.
Part of that process says Black Fern #76, Annaleah Boodle (nee Rush), is ensuring future coaches are nurtured and remunerated appropriately in what have been voluntary positions, juggling full-time employment elsewhere.
“Coaching is a full-time job for whatever season you’re in. It requires your full attention,” says Boodle, whose been coaching the respective teams of her two daughters and her son in Cambridge for the past 12 years.
“The next single biggest thing for women’s rugby is trying to create pathways for the coaches and providing an income to do it, to pour their heart and soul into it at lower levels.”
The appointment of Victoria Grant and Crystal Kaua as the first female head coaches in next year's Super Rugby Aupiki is a step in the right direction.
Boodle, who played for New Zealand from 1996 to 2002, reflects in previous years the Black Ferns coaching roles have been treated as stepping-stones to higher roles within the men’s game. But this tournament will help shift that mindset, she believes.
The wero for other sports
In a competitive market for talent, other sports need to look at the Black Ferns’ journey and see how they can better support their athletes to bring out the best in them.
“Who cares what sport kids chose, as long as they’re doing something and they see a pathway in that sport,” says Boodle. “But what this tournament has provided is a visible and exciting pathway for young women.”
My niece, Anika (15), was playing in the PAC 7s rugby tournament in South Auckland last Saturday and every team at that tournament was given 20 tickets from World Rugby to the semifinal games at Eden Park. She and her teammates sat directly behind the goalposts where French fly half Caroline Drouin took her infamous penalty kick.
“It was awesome,” my niece says. “We immediately asked our coach if she could get us tickets to the final.”
RWC 2025
With the condensed World Cup cycle through to the 2025 tournament in England, women’s rugby cannot afford to take backward steps as the tournament expands to 16 teams.
“The Black Ferns need to be going on an end-of-year Northern Hemisphere tour like the All Blacks do every year,” says Boodle. “They’ve got to have a platform to play tough games consistently to keep improving and so the international game moves forward.”
Next year is the start of the annual women’s international competition, WXV – featuring 18 nations in three divisions. World Rugby has committed almost $13m to the tournament over the first two years, which should make a significant difference to the women’s game.
Boodle, who’s watched every game in this World Cup, says it’s not just the top teams who have put on the show. “The bottom eight have played some sensational rugby, the games are close, the structure is awesome. It’s been a pleasure to watch,” she says.
Hugely experienced England captain Sarah Hunter, after their hard-fought semifinal victory over Canada, was quick to acknowledge to Spark Sport the efforts of the opposition who do not yet have fully-supported programmes. (The Black Ferns have only been on full-time contracts since March).
“Can you imagine by 2025 if every nation that competed in the Rugby World Cup was professional, just where the women’s game could go?” Hunter said. “It’s on that upward trajectory but how much more could it be accelerated if nations got that investment?”
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Regardless of the final result on Saturday night, this tournament has been a moment in time so many have worked relentlessly for. Some for decades.
For me, it’s not just about the young girls who want to put a splash of Ruby red through their hair - it’s about the young boys as well who aspire to do a goosey as good as Portia.
It’s about everyone seeing, valuing and celebrating women’s rugby for the wonderful spectacle that it truly is.
The teams have stepped up. The tribe have spoken. It’s time for the powers that be to up their part, too.
