While Super Rugby Aupiki has got off the ground in trying circumstances, players left out of pocket and the effects of long Covid have rugby columnist Alice Soper concerned.
The word aupiki means to ascend, but it can also mean a steep, uphill climb.
We have seen both meanings on display with the roll out of this new Super Rugby Aupiki competition. Women’s rugby is reaching new heights at the same time our Omicron case numbers do, meaning we had delays and withdrawals before we even got started.
The intention of this competition was to provide a new step to propel women’s rugby in Aotearoa to a whole new level, bringing with them a new wave of fans and excitement leading into the Rugby World Cup being played later this year.
What started as three matches plus a final, running over the course of a month, was reduced to a three-match round robin over two-and-a-half weeks. Then the Hurricane Poua were forced to pull out of the opening round, leaving them and the Blues with two competition matches each.
The mums’ network has been keeping me reliably informed as information has slowly trickled through official channels. I’m told there have been over 20 cases in the Hurricanes Poua side and around the same number in the Blues. The seven-day recommended stand down for these players making a 16-day tournament seemingly undeliverable and yet, we are still boxing on.
Players running out without a proper warm-up have already seen casualties. The last time these women played was either the Farah Palmer Cup in October or the infamous Northern tour in November. Three key squad members have already paid the price of that lack of conditioning opportunities, lost for the rest of the tournament for the Chiefs Manawa after their preseason against Matatū.
Round one was a rematch of the preseason, providing a contender for try of the year, and was just one conversion shy of a golden point playoff.
All teams were on the field for round two, although perhaps not at full strength. Entering the competition cold, the Hurricanes Poua were not yet the complete package. Sharp support lines on the offload and hunger at the breakdown kept them in touch with the Chiefs Manawa at halftime.
The Poua will be lamenting not capitalising after long periods of almost in the second. The Chiefs Manawa hanging tough with players in the bin, showing more of the dogged defence which is fast becoming a part of their brand.
The Blues took advantage of the established Auckland Storm and Black Fern combinations within their pack to put on a display to warm any front-rower’s heart. Scrum battles with a healthy side of niggle, mauls unlucky not to yield results and turnovers aplenty. Not to be outdone, the backs from both sides brought the physicality, creating space with the tackles they broke through. Players will be nursing knocks coming into the final round.
Notable omissions so far have included Blues’ captain Aroha Savage, former Black Ferns captain Eloise Blackwell and Wellington stalwart Jackie Patea-Fereti.
We awkwardly watched a pre-match profile of Hurricanes Poua player, Saphire Abraham, talking about all the sacrifices she’s made and just what this tournament means to her. It was painful viewing knowing there is no happy ending for her this season, Covid ruling her out of the tournament.
The rugby itself, however, is undeniably entertaining if not a little rough in places, leaving the words of Les Elder, after last year’s exhibition match, ringing in my ears.
“To put on a product like that, off three trainings and a couple of club matches, just shows what we could create if we were resourced.” It’s the big new thing but it’s the same old story.
Players were given just two weeks to reshuffle their lives and go into camp fulltime to get this tournament off the ground. Offered a sign-or-be-replaced ultimatum, with just days to consider what this may mean. Doing the thing we are told not to do, removing all balance to go all-in on rugby. Removing players from their support systems just as we push them into the spotlight.
Last year’s sales pitch for part-time wages ringing hollow in the face of this new fulltime reality, players were left out of pocket with the removal of the final, for which they had been offered a $1200 appearance bonus.
The driver of all these decisions, Covid, or rather our lack of ability to comprehend what the experts had been telling us about the incoming wave. My biggest concern is that we are rushing players back to the field from their sickbeds without consideration of the research into long Covid.
I cannot begin to comprehend what the pressure is like, for a player to make the impossible choice between an assured chance to make history, versus the potential harm to their long-term health. Rugby has form in this and I can’t shake the feeling long Covid is shaping up to be the new concussion, with players set to pay the price for playing on.
Surely, the most rational thing would have been to take away this choice and delay the launch of this competition. Look at instead staging it at the tail-end of the Farah Palmer Cup, when players are match fit and hungry to prove themselves. That would mean Black Ferns sevens stars may not be available, but this is a 15s competition after all.
Delaying, too, could have made it easier to be a fan. And oh, do our women’s rugby fans deserve a break. Largely unable to buy merchandise, tickets or tune in to 3pm kick offs scheduled during work hours.
Having to dance over between White Ferns innings as our history intersects with theirs. Those who discover the game now will largely do so by accident as it’s hard to organise any activations while you are refreshing pages daily to keep track of all the changes.
The two final matches will be played on Sunday and the write-ups will tell you, it was a good start. But was it really?
Did the talent and their sacrifice not deserve the energy of an engaged audience? And did the talent really need to keep making sacrifices for those unable to execute a Plan B?
If we really want Aupiki to be the ascent, and not a continuation of the slow uphill climb, it deserves better than this. And in order to raise that bar, we have to ask for more and not be thought of as poor sports for doing so.
* The final round of Super Rugby Aupiki kicks off at FMG Stadium, Hamilton, on Sunday: Matatū v Hurricanes Poua, 5.05pm live on Sky Sport 1 (and streaming on Sky Sport Now) with delayed coverage on Prime (9.45pm); the Blues v Chiefs Manawa, 7.35pm, live on Sky Sport 1 and free to air on Prime.
