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Wayne Smith's biggest struggle with the Black Ferns compared to the All Blacks

(Photo by Peter Meecham/Getty Images)

Black Ferns head coach Wayne Smith admitted there are aspects of coaching that Black Ferns that he struggles to adjust with compared with the All Blacks.

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The former All Blacks assistant said coaching the two teams is ‘different’ as the women outwardly express themselves a lot more than the men who internalise their preparation.

He joked that he threatened to drive his own car to the ground after finding it difficult to handle the noise levels on the team bus.

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“It’s my first time coaching a women’s team, there is a difference,” Smith said after the Black Ferns win over Wales.

“I am struggling with the pregame prep and what it looks like compared to the years I had with the All Blacks.

“The men are more inside themselves and quieter, more detailed in terms of their individual preparation. The women love it, I can see why they love it. There is a lot of joy in what they do, they dance, and they sing. I am learning to love that; I find it a bit difficult at times on the bus.

“I did threaten I would take my own car to the next game but it’s great to see people absolutely loving what they do.”

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Wales made it a difficult opening quarter for the Black Ferns at Waitakere Stadium but the home side clicked into gear to produce some classic movements as the match wore on.

Smith was impressed with the Welsh defence and labelled it a ‘step up’ from what they faced against the Wallaroos the week before.

“I thought the defence was outstanding, it was a big step up from last week. The attack, particularly the counterattack was really exiting.

“We have some work to do up front, their pack played well and put us under pressure. You always have something to work on, but we will get back on the grind this week.”

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The Black Ferns brought in a host of changes to the starting side that were 41-17 winners over Australia but that didn’t hold them back as they ran away to a 56-12 victory over Wales.

With the final pool game against winless Scotland next week, more changes are expected as Smith believes there are many capable starters in his World Cup squad.

“This game is about how you prepare the accountability for being responsible for your own preparation. If you have 23 who have prepared really well then you get good performances.

“We are getting there. We have 32 women who are worthy of starts, so they will get starts.”

The man nicknamed “The Professor” confirmed that this was his last rodeo as a coach in any capacity and he would retire after this World Cup.

“Rugby has always been my life since I was five years old, whether I have been a coach or a club player, it’s something I have loved all my life,” he said.

“This will be it for me, I will retire after this permanently. What a way to finish, this is a lot of fun.”

 

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ShaneO 765 days ago

Strange that you’d call Wayne Smith a “former All Blacks assistant” when he’s also a former All Blacks head coach.

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JW 3 hours ago
'Passionate reunion of France and New Zealand shows Fabien Galthie is wrong to rest his stars'

Ok, managed to read the full article..

... New Zealand’s has only 14 and the professional season is all over within four months. In France, club governance is the responsibility of an independent organisation [the Ligue Nationale de Rugby or LNR] which is entirely separate from the host union [the Fédération Française de Rugby or FFR]. Down south New Zealand Rugby runs the provincial and the national game.

That is the National Provincial Championship, a competition of 14 representative union based teams run through the SH international window and only semi professional (paid only during it's running). It is run by NZR and goes for two and a half months.


Super Rugby is a competition involving 12 fully professional teams, of which 5 are of New Zealand eligibility, and another joint administered team of Pacific Island eligibility, with NZR involvement. It was a 18 week competition this year, so involved (randomly chosen I believe) extra return fixtures (2 or 3 home and away derbys), and is run by Super Rugby Pacific's own independent Board (or organisation). The teams may or may not be independently run and owned (note, this does not necessarily mean what you think of as 'privately owned').


LNR was setup by FFR and the French Government to administer the professional game in France. In New Zealand, the Players Association and Super Rugby franchises agreed last month to not setup their own governance structure for professional rugby and re-aligned themselves with New Zealand Rugby. They had been proposing to do something like the English model, I'm not sure how closely that would have been aligned to the French system but it did not sound like it would have French union executive representation on it like the LNR does.

In the shaky isles the professional pyramid tapers to a point with the almighty All Blacks. In France the feeling for country is no more important than the sense of fierce local identity spawned at myriad clubs concentrated in the southwest. Progress is achieved by a nonchalant shrug and the wide sweep of nuanced negotiation, rather than driven from the top by a single intense focus.

Yes, it is pretty much a 'representative' selection system at every level, but these union's are having to fight for their existence against the regime that is NZR, and are currently going through their own battle, just as France has recently as I understand it. A single focus, ala the French game, might not be the best outcome for rugby as a whole.


For pure theatre, it is a wonderful article so far. I prefer 'Ntamack New Zealand 2022' though.

The young Crusader still struggles to solve the puzzle posed by the shorter, more compact tight-heads at this level but he had no problem at all with Colombe.

It was interesting to listen to Manny during an interview on Maul or Nothing, he citied that after a bit of banter with the All Black's he no longer wanted one of their jersey's after the game. One of those talks was an eye to eye chat with Tamaiti Williams, there appear to be nothing between the lock and prop, just a lot of give and take. I thought TW angled in and caused Taylor to pop a few times, and that NZ were lucky to be rewarded.

f you have a forward of 6ft 8ins and 145kg, and he is not at all disturbed by a dysfunctional set-piece, you are in business.

He talked about the clarity of the leadership that helped alleviate any need for anxiety at the predicaments unfolding before him. The same cannot be said for New Zealand when they had 5 minutes left to retrieve a match winning penalty, I don't believe. Did the team in black have much of a plan at any point in the game? I don't really call an autonomous 10 vehicle they had as innovative. I think Razor needs to go back to the dealer and get a new game driver on that one.

Vaa’i is no match for his power on the ground. Even in reverse, Meafou is like a tractor motoring backwards in low gear, trampling all in its path.

Vaa'i actually stops him in his tracks. He gets what could have been a dubious 'tackle' on him?

A high-level offence will often try to identify and exploit big forwards who can be slower to reload, and therefore vulnerable to two quick plays run at them consecutively.

Yes he was just standing on his haunches wasn't he? He mentioned that in the interview, saying that not only did you just get up and back into the line to find the opposition was already set and running at you they also hit harder than anything he'd experienced in the Top 14. He was referring to New Zealands ultra-physical, burst-based Super style of course, which he was more than a bit surprised about. I don't blame him for being caught out.


He still sent the obstruction back to the repair yard though!

What wouldn’t the New Zealand rugby public give to see the likes of Mauvaka and Meafou up front..

Common now Nick, don't go there! Meafou showed his Toulouse shirt and promptly got his citizenship, New Zealand can't have him, surely?!?


As I have said before with these subjects, really enjoy your enthusiasm for their contribution on the field and I'd love to see more of their shapes running out for Vern Cotter and the like styled teams.

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