Katelyn Vaha'akolo has starred for the Black Ferns at the Rugby World Cup but a number of lesser nations are now out of the tournament. Photo / SmartFrame
Katelyn Vaha'akolo has starred for the Black Ferns at the Rugby World Cup but a number of lesser nations are now out of the tournament. Photo / SmartFrame
The Rugby World Cup knockout rounds have eliminated Brazil, Fiji, Italy, Japan, Samoa, Spain, USA and Wales.
Teams such as Brazil and Samoa made significant progress but face challenges in maintaining their development.
There is a call for more consistent investment and support to prevent losing ground and promote growth.
The knockout rounds are upon us, which means we say goodbye to half of the nations that have joined us at the Rugby World Cup. Brazil, Fiji, Italy, Japan, Samoa, Spain, USA and Wales have all played their last minutes, while the rest prepare to do or diethis weekend. The stakes are high, on the pitch and back home. And what comes next will be the key to unlocking lasting success.
During the pool play, we saw many different versions of success. For nations such as Brazil, it was simply breaking through to play at their first 15s World Cup. For Samoa, it was scoring their first World Cup points in 11 years. These two teams are very much at the beginning of their international story. Both had to build high-performance programmes this cycle to prepare their top teams, first for qualification and then competition at this tournament.
The real test for them now is whether they will be able to hold the ground they have broken. If they are forced into the same loop, dissembling and then reassembling programmes once the World Cup is shining on the horizon, they may find next cycle that things are even further out of reach. This would be a failing of all of us, that rather than embracing the potential for global growth, we have replicated men’s tiered divide.
Losing ground is also the fear attached to the fate of Wales, Italy and the USA. These teams would have had inclusion in the quarter-finals as their marker of success. Falling short will now call into question what meagre investment has been made. These are all teams that have had what could be described as fair-weather support from their unions. Now they are entering choppier waters it remains to be seen who will hold the course.
Each of these teams has a strong international calendar in which they can test themselves. They have domestic competitions at varying stages of development and no end of talent in the pipeline. What they need is more time on the grass with more quality coaching, with a particular focus on the levels leading up to the top. To enable them to do their learning before landing on the international stage they need what the men have, a funding model based on their potential rather than their performance.
Fiji, Spain and Japan would all love to be in their shoes. They are the big fish in the small ponds of their regional competitions, with only one of the teams these nations regularly play also making it to this World Cup. Having reached the limit of their programming, they now need an invitation from others to reach the next level. As Japan’s head coach Lesley McKenzie asked after their loss to Black Ferns: “How does the structure rise around us so these girls have got the next thing that’s going to help them elevate, that’s not four years away?”
Black Ferns flanker Jorja Miller makes a break against Japan, who failed to make the knockout stage. Photo / SmartFrame
That’s a question to be put to World Rugby out of this tournament as we look ahead at the next cycle. In order for women’s rugby to be truly successful, we need to collaborate off the pitch to allow for the best possible competition on it. Why not expand Pacific Four to a Pacific Six by inviting Japan and South Africa to the party? What other offers can strong unions make to support domestic development? We’ve seen the impact for Fijiana, surely the permanent inclusion of Penina Pasifika must be next.
Our success is bound to one another. The future of the women’s game cannot be the replication of the men’s. We don’t need a handful of giants, we need all our women together, standing tall.
