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Why coach was ‘worried’ about Black Ferns’ heartfelt hug with King Charles

King Charles III meets New Zealand's Black Ferns rugby union team at Buckingham Palace on September 11, 2024 in London, England. (Photo by Aaron Chown - WPA Pool/Getty Images)

Black Ferns assistant coach Dan Cron has reflected on the incredible experience of meeting King Charles III at Buckingham Palace and explained why he was “worried” when the players went to hug the 75-year-old Monarch.

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In the leadup to the Black Ferns’ clash with England’s Red Roses at Allianz Stadium in Twickenham, the New Zealanders had the privilege of meeting the King. The Black Ferns have shared multiple videos on social media, including one moment that has gone viral.

With some of the Black Ferns watching on, winger Ayesha Leti-l‘iga stood in front of the King and bravely asked whether the players could have a hug. “A hug? Why not,” was how King Charles responded before the players came together for an iconic embrace.

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Of the four videos the Black Ferns have shared online from their trip to Buckingham Palace, that moment has caught fire online. At the time of writing, other videos have 277 comments and another has 480, but the hug clip has a staggering 5,993.

“I much appreciated this chance to meet you and have such a warm hug from most of you,” King Charles III later said. “Very healing.” When looking back at the entire experience, coach Cron reflected on how “surreal” it was to visit the royal palace.

“The hug thing, I could tell it was coming… I was worried they were going to put a scrum down to be honest,” Cron quipped during an interview on SENZ’s Scotty & Izzy.

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“It was a pretty proud moment, mate, to be honest. It was a boy from Hillmorton High in there meeting the King. It was pretty cool.

“I was very lucky enough to be directly behind him, for me it was a way of looking over his shoulder, and it was a pretty proud moment as a Kiwi to be standing in that room and that occasion,” he added when asked about the team’s waiata.

“To see a team that I’m apart of perform like that, words can’t describe it pal to be honest.”

Head-to-Head

Last 5 Meetings

Wins
4
Draws
0
Wins
1
Average Points scored
39
21
First try wins
60%
Home team wins
80%

On Saturday, the Black Ferns will look to cap off an exciting week when they take on the Red Roses at the iconic London rugby venue. The newly named Allianz Stadium is expected to host about 40,000 spectators less than a year out from the Rugby World Cup.

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New Zealand claimed a thrilling 34-31 win in the last World Cup Final in 2022, with a full house at Auckland’s Eden Park watching the two heavyweights of international women’s rugby go head-to-head in an enthralling decider.

They met again last year in Aotearoa, with the English taking out that one 33-12. It was a commanding performance from a side that still would’ve been hurting from that loss in the biggest game of all, where they almost pulled off a comeback despite going down to 14.

England have won three of the last five, including two commanding wins 43-12 and 56-15 during New Zealand’s end-of-year tour in November 2021. But that was then and this is now.

The stage is set for another epic between the top two ranked sides in women’s rugby.

“I know when I signed up to coach, the first thing I looked at was when we play England,” Cron explained.

“we’ve had a very big build-up for it. We had a great three-week camp in New Zealand and came over here Saturday. We’ve ticked the tourist box now and now it’s footy time.

“We pretty much had a game today against Wales, had a good hit-out against them. The girls just don’t hold back at training – it’s two girls enter, one girl leaves.

“From a coaching point of view, I’m pretty excited about where we’re at. It’s been a good prep and all that is left to do now is go out and execute and play with a bit of mana.”

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Comments

5 Comments
T
Terry24 65 days ago

They should have thrown him a rugby ball, tackled him, declared him 'wrong side of the ruck' and studded the f**k out of him, 90s style, until his bodyguards broke it up.


NZ needs to stop this love affair with a monarchy. Having a European 'King of New Zealand' on the other side of the planet tying NZ to an undignified colonial history is something that the modern country should be able to move beyond.


The retort that the monarchy is now a benign institution does not bear any real scrutiny.

T
Teddy 67 days ago

They should only be worried if their kids are getting hugs from Charlie's brother.

M
Mike 68 days ago

It was a lovely moment. Good on Charles for agreeing to it. Bet his security detail were freaking out though! 😂

M
MB 68 days ago

Why I love rugby? Let me count the ways!

B
BM 68 days ago

To be sure Mike! Ayesha Leti-I -Inga is just a real character and has had to wait 2 years for the opportunity. She is delightfully irrepressible! ...and would love to score again! 😜 Just hope weather is lovely so both teams and officials can enjoy a memorable contest for a record crowd and worldwide acclaim. Can't wait!!! 🤣

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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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