New Zealand Rugby has apologised for failing to properly support the elite women's game following a damning review into the Black Ferns culture. Video / Dean Purcell
New Zealand Rugby has apologised for failing to properly support the elite women's game following a damning review into the Black Ferns culture. Head coach Glenn Moore has, however, been retained to guide the team through to their home World Cup later this year.
The findings of the target="_blank">30-page review into the Black Ferns that includes 26 recommendations were released in Auckland on Monday.
The review was sparked after senior Black Ferns' hooker Te Kura Ngata-Aerengamate revealed via social media that she suffered a mental breakdown after alleged critical comments from Moore on last year's end of year tour that featured four successive record losses to England and France.
Review lead Phillipa Muir, partner at leading law firm Simpson Grierson, outlined how Ngata-Aerengamate broke down on the eve of the third test in Toulouse after not being selected.
Ngata-Aerengamate said her non-selection was the final straw after eight years of being negatively impacted and not feeling valued other than for cultural aspects she brought to the team.
Muir said in the days that followed Ngata-Aerengamate's breakdown she was not properly supported.
"The review team is of the view that what occurred to Te Kura that night and the days that followed was not well monitored or managed and should have been escalated," Muir said.
Black Ferns head coach Glenn Moore. Photo / Photosport
Among the most damning findings, the Black Ferns review states there is no clear or consistent high-performance vision, practices or mindset while purporting a clear cultural disconnect between players and management.
The review contains allegations of culturally insensitive comments; poor communication and inconsistent feedback; favouritism and ghosting; body shaming issues for some players; and a lack of good recruitment, induction and ongoing support for management and players.
In offering some balance, it does acknowledge players need to build resilience within high performance environments to accept critical feedback and improve from it.
With 75 per cent of the squad from Māori or Pasifika background, the review underlined the need for greater diversity among the aging male-dominated management team and a better understanding of how to coach women athletes.
Under the health and wellbeing section, the review states the need to dismantle systems and practices that "only reflect a Pākehā world view".
After conducting 52 interviews alongside former Black Fern Tammi Wilson Uluinayau, Muir confirmed Ngata-Aerengamate, who is not among this year's contracted Black Ferns players, was far from a lone voice of dissension.
"We've identified that this framework has moved very fast into a semi-professional environment and the resourcing unfortunately hasn't been there to support that," Muir said.
"There's some rebuilding that needs to be done. Everyone between players and management wants to do that work. Our sense is there's a commitment to that rebuilding. We've got a Rugby World Cup in six months. Everyone wants to do the best for that. There's some very positive feedback coming out of the recent camp."
New Zealand Rugby CEO Mark Robinson with Phillipa Muir and Tammi Wilson Uluinayau during the Black Ferns cultural and environmental review press conference. Photo / Photosport
New Zealand Rugby boss Mark Robinson admitted women's rugby's transition from amateur to semi-professional, which includes Super Rugby Aupiki's brief launch last month and the move to fully contracted Black Ferns, left major gaps in critical areas.
"We haven't got everything right and this report highlights that. As an organisation we apologise for not having provided all of these tools to our people to succeed and we know and acknowledge we have a lot of hard work to do," Robinson said.
"No one should be in any doubt about our commitment to the progression of women's rugby in this country."
Another telling piece of feedback was the revelation that too many annual reviews of the Black Ferns have resulted in little, if any, change. Players and management say they, therefore, have no confidence in tour reviews.
Moore did not front the immediate fallout, while the team is in camp in Christchurch, but his statement failed to acknowledge any major failings. Robinson gave assurances changes would be implemented this time around.
"I don't think it's fair to say they've been ignored previously," Robinson said. "We acknowledge the feedback provided from the review. We respect the process and the people. There's a lot of information to work through but there's some things we want to respond to quickly as it relates to the environment so we can have every success with the World Cup, and then there are some other issues that may take a little bit more time.
"We acknowledge we haven't got everything right but the intention and commitment is there and this provides us with a fantastic road map to improve in a number of areas. We're not hiding away from the fact these issues exist and we're taking them very seriously.
"After assessing the campaign and cultural reviews we believe Glenn is the right person to lead the coaching team and we have committed to increasing resources in the management team to support this. Glenn is exceptionally skilled and experienced as a coach who cares deeply about the Black Ferns.
"We know gender diversity and balance in coaching is an area we need to work on in respect to the Black Ferns and women's high-performance environments in general."
The Black Ferns are a team with an illustrious legacy of five World Cup titles from seven attempts.
Tackling the widespread improvements from the review will be just as daunting as attempting to claim a World Cup title on home soil.
