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New Zealand rugby's apology to elite women players
By AAP
New Zealand Rugby boss Mark Robinson has apologised to the country's elite women players after a cultural review found the governing body had failed to sufficiently support the women's high performance program.
The review, run by an independent panel, said some players and management had complained of negative experiences within the 'Black Ferns' national women's team environment, including instances of body shaming, culturally insensitive comments and favouritism.
The review was triggered by Black Ferns hooker Te Kura Ngata-Aerengamate, who said in a post on her social media in December that she had suffered a mental breakdown after alleged critical comments from long-serving coach Glenn Moore.
Ngata-Aerengamate's post came after the world champion Black Ferns lost four Tests in a row against England and France in November, after more than two years without playing internationals because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
"This report highlights that we haven't got everything right and we apologise for not having provided all the tools for our people to succeed," Robinson said in a statement on Monday.
The review said NZR had done "a great deal of positive work" to move the Black Ferns into the professional era but said the governing body should review its team management and coaching structure to create an environment that is "safe and inclusive with regard to culture, gender and sexuality."
Moore will nonetheless continue as head coach through the Rugby Women's World Cup in New Zealand starting in October, with the support of former All Blacks assistant coach Wayne Smith, recently hired as a technical coach.
"There are learnings from the review. I am committed to ensuring those are taken on board," Moore said in a statement published by New Zealand media.
The review made 26 recommendations, including plugging health and wellbeing gaps in the Black Ferns team environment and taking measures to ensure "cultural and gen der diversity" within management roles and pathways.< /p>
The Black Ferns have won five out of the last six World Cups.
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Latest Comments
Think we have to accept we have been on the slide for a while now.Still interesting to see the repeated media pieces about the myth of the ABs slipping-I would say slipped past tense.In part don’t we have to give credit for the improvement of other nations particularly Ireland?Isnt that good for the game?Are we beginning to feel the impact of losing the Boks from Super rugby and maybe soon TRC?I would agree we are also ran right now so will be interesting to see how we progress-assuming we do!Isnt that part of sport though to be in improvement mode?Back to the stats though I think the Boks were under 60% leading into 2019?Now with the focus on the RWC does it matter so much what you are doing between tournaments?You just get through your group(remembering the ABs qualified 2nd in 2023)and then you have 3 matches to win the thing.
Go to commentsThe ABs have more than enough back line guys so don’t see issue there. Just the balance at center and feel time for Rieko to sit out.Forwards- balance still not right. Front row ok but miss Codie. But still ok. Locks- you now need to start s a tall timber at middle of lineout- Darry is the right guy. Then move Sititi to 8, move Ardie to 7 and then move Vaai to blindside. He can become the closest to PSdT . Then have proper bench as this is not a demotion but key to dominating last 30 minutes- Patrick, Ofa etc are golden here. Get the balance right between starters and finishers
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