The Blacks Ferns 41-17 win over the Wallaroos on the field at Auckland’s Eden Park last night was good, but the one off it was better.

There had been a lot of conjecture going into the Rugby World Cup about just how people would respond, given the team’s recent history and the fact that women’s rugby has never really been a priority for those running the game in Aotearoa New Zealand.

But it took a World Cup to finally get one thing right.

The people in charge knew that the most important ones at a sporting event aren’t the players. They’re not the volunteers, or the entertainers, or even the guy cooking Fritz’s Wieners.

It’s the ones who are there for the first time ever, most usually children but occasionally adults who are giving something new a go.

They’re the most important because their entire experience could well mean they come back next time, and again and again until they call themselves true fans. They will bring their friends, their family and eventually their own children.

If the sporting event can get it right, they lock in that person for life.

Lacklustre experiences
It’s something rugby hasn’t been very good at lately. Lacklustre game day experiences have played a huge role in crowds for everything below (and sometimes including) the All Blacks gradually declining, to the point where NPC attendances are pretty much non-existent. There is nothing unique, very little that’s special.

Last night at Eden Park flipped that notion on its head. While there is a conversation to be had around just exactly how many fans were in attendance (43,000) and whether a clearly not full stadium can be described as “sold out”, in the end it didn’t really matter.

Looking around showed a different sight than an All Black test match, far more children and families. Groups of people who were clearly drawn to women’s rugby and its World Cup for reasons they’d arrived at themselves.

It was up to the day itself to carry them further.

If it was their first time at a rugby game, what they got most definitely ensured that they’d be coming back. The wave ridden by new fans of a fixture that, for a while there, the Black Ferns had no right to win, is a wonderful and unique experience of its own.

It was an evening of making sure the fan experience was paramount: from Rita Ora’s performance to affordable tickets to the Black Ferns making sure every single kid got a photo after the game – even if it meant they didn’t get into the sheds until well after 10pm.

The energy of the crowd was clearly different too to one usually found at Eden Park. For a start, there were no massive howls of protest at refereeing decisions. No one was getting rotten drunk either, despite it being Saturday night.

Happy and safe
The general feel was that this was an environment that you could feel happy and safe in, something that is less directly quantifiable than numbers but infinitely more valuable in the broader context.

Does it mean that every Black Ferns test can be assured of a big crowd if they are held in a big stadium? Probably not, as the World Cup factor plays a huge role in getting people along.

But it’s a new dawn for women’s rugby, this time with an actual professional NZ Rugby competition to follow it up and a commitment by World Rugby to continue the momentum in test matches. It is proof that if you do things right and invest properly, people will show up in numbers.

From an elite level perspective, this all makes sense as it should have all happened years ago. But there was a sign during the week that the penny had finally dropped in regard to what it will mean in the long term.

When asked about how the Black Ferns would inspire player numbers, coach Wayne Smith said that “the future generations will be inspired to play rugby, be fans and follow the game”.

That’s the nail on the head, because it’s not going to matter whether those future fans are girls or boys. They will grow up and fill the seats at Eden Park and other stadiums.

While the World Cup opener should rightfully be held up as a celebration of women’s rugby right now, years from now it will be remembered as an important day for the national game of New Zealand in general.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

World Rugby must adopt a “one country one national team” in world competitions as it is done in the Olympics and all the other world sports, says the prime minister of Samoa who is also his nation’s rugby chairman.

This means the United Kingdom must have one rugby team to incorporate England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales in the future.

Samoa Rugby Union chairman, Tuilaepa Sa’ilele Malielegaoi, says this in response to the controversial League of 12 competition proposed by World Rugby that will ultimately marginalise Pacific teams and poorer rugby unions.

READ MORE: World Rugby reveals plans for nations championship

“We have perpetuated this absolute nonsense – of four national teams by the United Kingdom – for so long and the worst part is the silence from the older unions like South Africa, New Zealand and Australia in the Southern Hemisphere. Their silence speaks volumes,” said Tuilaepa, who will attend his first World Rugby Council meeting in Dublin in a few weeks.

Samoa Rugby Union chair Tuilaepa Sa’ilele Malielegaoi … seeking “quality” and “fairness” in world competitions. Image: Talamua

“Rugby is a 20th century sport, where the colonial mindset is a thing of the past. So as long as this abnormality continues in World Rugby, with four national teams for the United Kingdom alone, the voting power will always be skewed in favour of the kind of decision-making that is not inclusive and is harmful to the best interests of the sport internationally.”

Tuilaepa said the new league means that not only are Pacific teams excluded, but all other rugby playing nations will be relegated to second class status.

“Which is contrary to the often-proclaimed world rugby objectives of growing the sport internationally; and to care for the welfare of our 9 million rugby players; and sustain the interest of over 300 million rugby fans worldwide,” he said.

‘Breeding farms’
“This new concept will treat Tier 2 Unions as mere breeding farms for the Rich 12 to pick and choose players from.

“Then on top of that, players aged 20 years in 2022, at the height of their careers in the island teams will be denied the opportunity to play top rugby for the whole period of 12 years.”

A “one nation one national team” policy is one of three major changes Tuilaepa wants to raise the quality and incorporate fairness in to competitions, for the sportsmen and sportswomen as well as the unions themselves.

Firstly, the eligibility rules should be more liberal. Like those adopted by World Rugby League.

The best approach for Tier 2 nations is for member unions to pick the best players for their test matches then allow unselected players to play for the country of their roots. In this way, competitiveness is maintained and the competition becomes more exciting for the fans worldwide.

Secondly, the gate-sharing of the amateur days of rugby, in which the host union takes all, should be replaced with a more professional sharing ratio of 50/50 for the visitors and host team, for any competition.

“This will ensure a more balanced distribution of the gate takings for games held in rich or poor nations.

Gate sharing
“If this gate sharing is modernised to a sharing ratio that appropriately reflects the professional era we have long been in, the revenue derived from the sweat of our island players when touring the super-rich venues of England is enough to meet our yearly budget for every annual tournament we participate in, every year in the Northern Hemisphere,” he said.

“Then Tier 2 nations should never have to resort to or be branded as beggars, depending on handouts.

“The current annual tours by Tier 2 nations only serve to fill the pockets and replenish the already fat bank accounts of the Irish, Scottish, English, Welsh, French and Italians every year and our small Tier 2 Unions continue to struggle, year in and year out, with huge bank overdrafts.”

Tuilaepa also suggested establishing a Tribunal “by law to adjudicate on complaints” raised by affected members.

“Perhaps it is time for a world tribunal, established especially in a neutral venue like “The Hague”, to adjudicate on contentious issues that are so blatantly wrong and which destroy the spirit of sportsmanship for millions of the world’s rugby youths of today that will become world leaders of tomorrow.

“Their hypocrisy is very clear. We can see it’s just lip service when there is talk of development for Tier 2 Nations.

“The ‘do as I say and not as I do’ syndrome is alive and well in this popular sport of world rugby.

‘Greed and selfishness’
“The inclusion of Italy and the United States, [which] are not in the top 12 world rankings, clearly points to greed and selfishness.”

“A better alternative to consider would be to stage two competitions – a Tier 1 competition to include the top 12 ranked teams in the world and a Tier 2 competition to include the next 12 teams, chosen on the basis of their ranking.

“At the end of the season the worst performing four Teams in the Tier 1 competition move down from Tier 1 and the best performing four Teams from Tier 2 move up to Tier 1.
He also suggested that all participating unions must receive broadcast (rights) compensation payments, plus gate sharing.

“This is a more positive pathway for Tier II rugby nations to move up the ladder in world rugby.”

This article by Talamua chief editor Lance Polu is republished by the Pacific Media Centre with permission.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz