Black Ferns XV face Springboks in South Africa tour ahead of World Cup

The Black Ferns are shaping up ahead of the Rugby World Cup. Photo / SmartFrame

THE FACTS

• The Black Ferns XV have named their squad for a tour in South Africa, playing two matches.
• South Africa’s women’s rugby team, supported by figures like Rassie Erasmus, is rapidly improving.
• The tour will gauge the depth of talent in the Black Ferns and South Africa’s growth.

This week, the Black Ferns XV have named their squad to head to South Africa. It’s a development side, scheduled to play two matches before the Springboks Women head to the World Cup.

Tied up in this tour are a couple of clues about the upcoming Black Ferns’ World Cup squad announcement, a glimpse at the evolving women’s landscape and a yardstick for us to measure the depth of New Zealand’s talent.

The story of South African women’s rugby is one that highlights the difference in development between the men’s and women’s game. While the Springboks men’s side have a long and successful history, their women’s team are just 21 years old.

They have attended as many World Cups as their men have won, making their first appearance in 2006 and returning in 2010 and 2014.

They missed out in 2017, but came back in 2022. It’s only recently, however, that South African Rugby has started to commit in earnest to their women’s programme.

This has been through the support of high-profile figures such as Rassie Erasmus and Siya Kolisi, as well as the shrewd recruitment of Lynne Cantwell.

Ireland’s most-capped women’s player, Cantwell played both sevens and XVs and joined the South African set-up as high-performance manager for women’s rugby.

Perhaps more importantly, Cantwell has also played the politics of rugby. In 2021, she was among 56 current and former players to sign an open letter sent to the Irish Government detailing the failings of their union.

Cantwell was tasked with resurrecting the South African women’s programme and paving the pathways to the top. So effective was Cantwell, the Irish Rugby Football Union has since buried the hatchet and called her home to run its women’s programme.

This is how the team who finished second-to-last in 2022 have managed to get Canada (the world No 2 side) and New Zealand’s development team to tour South Africa a month out from the next World Cup.

The team who have never placed higher than 10th at this tournament are now a genuine contender to make it to the quarter-finals.

Yes, the tours have started with losses but this wasn’t a B team. Canada named a line-up similar to that which drew with New Zealand earlier this year. Showing the Springboks the respect of a full-strength side allowed the hosts to show the world how much they have improved. The 30-point difference is roughly half that of their last encounter in 2023.

Now they are set to take on New Zealand’s development side and the scoreline could be narrower still.

The Black Ferns XV have named seven players who have worn the black jersey in the past two seasons, signalling their role in the upcoming World Cup will likely be that of first reserves. This will be less surprising for players such as Luka Connor, Marcelle Parkes and Lucy Jenkins, who have struggled to get minutes this year. But the inclusion of Hannah King, Mererangi Paul and Maama Mo’onia Vaipulu in this development team will raise some eyebrows.

This suggests that the redemption arc is curving towards Kelly Brazier to be named as the back-up first five-eighths for the full Black Ferns side.

Chelsea Bremner and Renee Holmes may also have done enough to fight back into contention. And Laura Bayfield may still yet be this year’s bolter.

That Ruby Tui and Krystal Murray’s names do not appear in the development squad will keep fans’ hopes alive that we may yet see them feature with the Black Ferns at another World Cup.

South Africa are wearing their ambition for their women proudly, luring some of the world’s best to play them ahead of the World Cup.

The Black Ferns XV head there with a direct point of comparison. How far off our second-stringers are from Canada’s results will tell us as much about our depth as it does the growth of South African women’s rugby.

Alice Soper is a sports columnist for the Herald on Sunday. A former provincial rugby player and current club coach, she has a particular interest in telling stories of the emerging world of women’s sports.