All Blacks issue second apology over social media gaffe
The All Blacks and the NZR have issued a second apology online following on from the social media backlash surrounding their International Women's Day tweet this week.
A tweet put out on Tuesday as part of International Women's Day was heavily criticised on various social media platforms as it only featured All Blacks players and didn't feature a single Black Ferns player, Black Ferns Sevens player, nor indeed any female presentation.
The use of Sevu Reece in one of the pictures was also criticised, with the winger having previously been arrested on charges of assault against his partner during a night out in 2018. While a judge ultimately discharged Reece without conviction, it was enough for Irish provincial side Connacht to tear up his contract ahead of his arrival in Ireland.
On Wednesday the NZR tweeted their first apology saying: "We didn’t get it right and we apologise - our entire rugby whanau are so proud of our Black Ferns and all our wahine, in everything that they do on and off the pitch."
After being criticized for not posting the apology on the larger All Blacks Twitter account, a second apology has since been issued on the far larger All Blacks platform from which the initial tweet emanated. "We've stopped, listened, and we agree. We didn't get it right with our celebration of international women's day and we apologise.
"The Black Ferns and Black Ferns Sevens continue to inspire people around the world - not just with their achievements on the field, but the way they represent the sport off the pitch.
"This is the year of women's rugby with Sky Super Rugby Aupiki, Farah Palmer Cup presented by Bunnings Warehouse, Commonwealth Games, Rugby World Cup Sevens 2022 and Rugby World Cup 2021 playing in 2022. We are behind you every step of the way. "
Despite the secondary apology, many Twitter users complained that it had taken too long and that the offending Tweet had not been deleted fast enough.
Latest Comments
What do you mean should?
Are you asking these questions because you think they are important reasons a player should decide to represent a country?
I think that is back the front. They are good reasons why someone 'would' be able to choose Fiji (say in the case of Mo'unga's cousin who the Drua brought into their environment), but not reason's why they "should". Those need to be far more personal imo.
If you think it was me suggesting he "should" play for Fiji, I certainly wasn't suggesting that. I was merely suggesting he would/could because ther'ye very close to his heart with his dad having represented them.
I did go on to say the right sort of environment should be created to encourage them to want to represent Fiji (as with case of their european stars it's always a fine balance between wanting to play for them and other factors (like compared with personal develop at their club). but that is also not trying to suggest those players should want to play for Fiji simply because you make the prospect better, you're simply allowing for it to happen.
TLDR I actually sent you to the wrong post, I was thinking more about my reply to HU's sentiments with yours. Instead of running you around I'll just paste it in
Actually I can't remember if it was that message or whether it indeed was my hypothetical Fiji example that I wanted to suggest would improve the International game, not cheapen it.
I suppose I have to try and explain that idea further now. So you say it cheapens the game. They game is already "cheap" when a nation like Fiji is only really allowed to get their full team going in a WC year. Or even it's the players themselves only caring about showing up in a WC year. To me this is a problem because a Fiji campaign/season isn't comparable to their competitors (in a situation where they're say ranked in the top 8. Take last year for instance. Many stars were absent of the Pacific Nations Cup, for whatever reason, but hey, when their team is touring a big EU nation like England or Ireland, wow suddenly theyre a high profile team again and they get the stars back.
Great right? No. Having those players come back was probably detrimental to the teams performance. My idea of having Sotutu and Bower encouraged (directly or indirectly) to play for Fiji is merely as a means to an end, to give the Flying Fijians the profile to both enrich and more accurately reflect the international game. You didn't really state what you dislike but it's easy to guess, and yes, this idea does utilize that aspect which does devalue the game in other cases, so I wanted to see if this picture would change that in this example (just and idea I was throwing out their, like I also said in my post, I don't actually think Sotutu or any of these players are going anywhere, even Ioane might still be hopeful of being slected).
The idea again, raise the visibility on the PNC so that can stand as a valued tournament on it's own and not require basic funded by WR to continue, but not enough to involve all the best players (even Japan treated it as a chance to play it's amatuers). Do this by hosting the PI island pool in places like Melbourne every other year, include some very high profile and influential team in it like an All Black team, and yes, by the nations getting together and creating ways to increase it's popularity by say asking individuals like Sotutu and Bower to strength it's marketability, with the hopeful follow on affect that stars like Botia and Radradra always want to (and can) represent their country. With Fiji as the example, but do it with Samoa and Tonga as well. They will need NZ and Aus (Japan) assistance to make a reality imo.
I don't believe this cheapens the game, I believe it makes it more valued as you're giving players the choice of who they chose to play for rather than basing it off money. Sotutu would never have forgone his paycheck to play for Fiji instead of NZ at the beginning, so you should viewed his current choice as 'cheap'
Go to commentsYou've lost me. Are you saying theyre already playing as part of the competition?
Or is this you saying you're against some sort of manipulation of the game? You want it to happen organically when the game/clubs are ready?
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