Thu 11 Mar 2010
The Black Ferns will be doing it tough to win their fourth Women’s World Cup in a row later this year in England.
Canada was scheduled to tour New Zealand next month to offer both nations much-needed international activity, but that trip is now off due to financial constraints at the Canadian end.
This is slightly at odds with the Rugby Canada website, which said the tour was off by mutual agreement as both nations were “re-evaluating pre-World Cup plans.”
NZRU General Manager Professional Rugby Neil Sorensen says the financial issues are not emanating from his union and the Black Ferns are “gutted” that the tour has fallen over, robbing the side of valuable match play. Instead, a plan B of a regional camp in Rotorua will take place, with the budgeted funding going into that event.
“We’re confident we’ll deliver them in a pretty good space before they go to the UK,” says Sorensen.
Black Ferns legend Anna Richards is disappointed that the Ferns will have no full test together before they hit the August-September tournament, but she says it is not a new situation.
“The coaches and union will be disappointed, but the Black Ferns have never had a lot of games before World Cups,” says Richards, who is still available for selection.
The reality is that England, which beat New Zealand in November, is in the middle of its Six Nations programme and, thanks to solid RFU funding and extensive preparation, will be in far better match shape than the Black Ferns going into a World Cup on home soil.
“As my old coach Laurie O’Reilly said, ‘It’s not the situation you are dealt with, it’s how you react that counts,’” says a philosophical Richards.
There will be no New Zealand women’s NPC in 2010 due to funding cuts, but Richards says the timing meant that would not have figured greatly in planning anyway. The one consolation is that they will be playing the World Cup at the end of their season, unlike the out-of-season 1998 and 2002 events.
So the Black Ferns will be scrutinised through club play, due to wind up in early August, and at least one camp, to go with their individual fitness programmes.
Incredibly, the Black Ferns have played just six tests, four against Australia, since winning the 2006 World Cup in Canada.