England is set to host the 10th iteration in what will undoubtedly be the biggest tournament yet.
It’s against this backdrop that our Black Ferns have named their end-of-year touring squad.
Our reigning world champions will be stopping over to play England at Twickenham on their way to the WXV1. The results of this tour will seed the storylines for the year ahead.
It was the tour north at this point in the last cycle which brought about a reckoning for our top side.
The complaint of Te Kura Ngata-Aerengamate triggered the review which in turn led to a coaching restructure and an apology from New Zealand Rugby.
The review aside, the results on this tour should have already been enough to bring about this rapid reset. England’s Red Roses and France kept the Black Ferns winless.
Not just winless, but seemingly hopeless as their set piece and confidence disintegrated before our eyes.
We will play the Red Roses twice on this upcoming tour. As well as a refurbished Irish side and the French too. Simply put, we need to come home with a couple of wins.
Not just to build confidence in a side heading into a world cup year but to give an indication of progress under Allan Bunting.
Bunting has been with the Black Ferns for three seasons now and in charge for two. His time at the top has been marked by a willingness to respond to form.
This may be in part due to Bunting’s tenure being the first to overlap fully with Super Rugby Aupiki. But, nevertheless, he has debuted 18 new Black Ferns over the past two years.
These players have been spread across the field. Two tightheads, two looseheads, two hookers, two halfbacks, two first fives, three wingers, three flankers, a lock and a fullback. Of those Bunting has brought in during this period, 10 have made it onto this tour.
Of those 10, four have their first chance to play our old nemesis, England. Of these four, two could end up in the driver’s seat for part of these matches. A real challenge awaits new halfback Maia Joseph and first five Hannah King.
England remains the benchmark that all women’s rugby is measured against. Just over seven and half points clear of us on the world rankings, they come to Twickenham on a 15 match winning streak.
Since former All Blacks coach John Mitchell has taken over the side the closest an opposition has come is still 21 points behind. That’s the same deficit we posted in our loss to England at Eden Park last year.
It’s this gap we need to close if we are going to have a shot at a successful World Cup defence.
These upcoming tests are exactly that for our Black Ferns. They offer a comprehensive review of our athletes’ abilities to deliver in the toughest of settings. Bunting knows this and it’s underlined in his squad selections.
For the first time he hasn’t named a potential debutant, instead prioritising cohesion and combination-building. At the squad naming on Friday, he stated that he believed there was good balance across the team now but it was the experience of performing under pressure that he wants this tour to develop.
Between the northern tour and the World Cup during the last cycle, we shed almost half of our team. From the World Cup to this end-of-year tour, we’ve seen players exchanged at a similar rate.
The outcome of these matches will tell us how much chopping and changing we still have to come. How far another World Cup victory is from our reach and whether this is the team to get us there.
