The All Blacks have apologised for a “tone deaf” International Women’s Day social media post which praised the team’s wives for supporting them, and featured a player who had assaulted his female partner.
The team issued an apology, admitting “we didn’t get it right”, following an international backlash to the original post, which emphasised women in supporting roles, rather than celebrating New Zealand’s women’s rugby union teams.
The Black Ferns are reigning world champions and have won five of the last six Women’s World Cups, while the country’s sevens team, the Black Ferns Sevens, have won the last two World Cups and are the current Olympic and Commonwealth champions.
“Forever grateful to all the women in our lives that allow us to play the game we love. Partners, mothers, daughters, doctors, physios, referees, administrators and fans. Appreciate you every day,” the original caption read.
“Why is International Women’s Day needed? This right here,” former England international Katherine Merchant said on Twitter. “Black Ferns are current world champions yet this post chose to ignore their existence and instead thank the women who ‘allow’ men to play.”
“Probably the most tone deaf tweet I think I’ve ever seen,” another user said.
“Awks. Didn’t fancy supporting ya women’s team,” said the English cricketer, Sarah Taylor.
The tribute featured a photo of All Blacks player Sevu Reece, who admitted assaulting his female partner while drunk in 2018. Reece received a discharge without conviction after lawyers argued a conviction would jeopardise his career. The judge noted Reece was three months sober, had demonstrated remorse and appeared to have been forgiven by his partner.
The photo also featured All Black Aaron Smith, who was suspended for a game and issued a tearful public apology for an airport toilet encounter with a “female friend”, that was condemned at the time as embarrassing by then-prime minister John Key.
The original tribute was deleted from social media, and the All Blacks posted an apology which read: “We’ve stopped, listened and we agree. We didn’t get it right with our celebration of International Women’s Day and we apologise.”
We are listening. pic.twitter.com/CAE6EhVjFt
— All Blacks (@AllBlacks) March 10, 2022
On Wednesday, New Zealand Rugby tweeted their first apology saying that their intent was “to portray the many roles women have in our game”.
“We didn’t get it right and we apologise,” NZR said. “Our entire rugby whānau are so proud of our Black Ferns and all our wāhine, in everything that they do on and off the pitch.”
