NEW ZEALAND WOMEN’S rugby head coach Glenn Moore resigned Saturday, five days after a withering review found coaches made culturally insensitive comments to the country’s top players and indulged in favouritism and body-shaming.
Moore’s immediate departure comes less than six months from the Women’s World Cup, which will be hosted by New Zealand, the defending champions.
Despite steering the team to the 2017 title, Moore had been under intense pressure to quit following the independent review, which found that Black Ferns players had been badly served by both team management and New Zealand Rugby.
It was launched after experienced hooker Te Kura Ngata-Aerengamate shared a social media post in which she said she had suffered a mental breakdown because of critical comments made by Moore.
She alleged Moore had told her she did not deserve to be on the team and was “picked only to play the guitar”.
Moore, 62, said in a statement that he had chosen to end his seven-year tenure following a wave of criticism at his retention.
“The decision to resign from a position I am passionate about six months before the 2022 Women’s Rugby World Cup has been really tough for both me and my family,” Moore said.
“I remain concerned that the prolonged Cultural and Environmental Review continues to be distracting at a time when all focus needs to be on maximising performance.”
Moore said he took issue with Ngata-Aerengamate’s allegations, describing them as “misleading”.
“(The social media post) provided no context and unfairly and inaccurately represented me as a coach and a person,” he said.
“My values and beliefs were called into question, and it was very disappointing not only to me but also to my family.
“I have refrained from making any public comment about that until now out of concern for Te Kura’s wellbeing at the time she made her post and to allow the review process to be completed.”
The review found other Black Ferns players — notably of Maori or Pasifika background — also complained of poor communication, favouritism, body-shaming and insufficient investment in understanding how to coach women.
NZ Rugby chief executive Mark Robinson said he accepted Moore’s decision.
“We understand and respect Glenn’s decision to step down and it is a mark of his character that he has chosen to put the team first at this difficult time.”
When the review was made public on Monday, Robinson said the governing body needed “to do better” and apologised to the players.
That Munster team should not be losing to that Cardiff team.
@The Irish Pain: also think the team hasn’t lost it’s way since Rassie left.
@The Irish Pain: ***has
And now we see why Keatley just isn’t of a good international standard. I understand he’s playing his best rugby this season but he isn’t at a high enough level for ireland or back up 10 to sexton. He wasn’t to blame for munster losing but he was anonymous for most parts and is still prone to errors at crucial times.
@Anthony Davoren: keatley issue is playing with that moron dunc the muppet.
@Shougeki: cool the jets with the abuse.
@The Irish Pain: yeah , no need for personal abuse but the half backs, all of them bar Murray obviously are sub standard if munster have any high end ambition going forward !!
@The Irish Pain: I dont mean to demean him as a man, and apologies if it came across as abuse but he has no right to be playing professional rugby. I honestly reckon sometimes we would be better off fielding 14 than having “dunc the bunk” on the pitch. He is dreadful. Only munster player i have thought would be better of they picked a randomer from the crowd.
@Shougeki: Best Fans In The World TM (c)
@Shougeki: keatley is just simply USELESS. He wouldent even make a school team & a Coward as well
@Murf: and Shougeki: You pair are an embarrassment to your club and Irish rugby
@Shougeki: Agree totally – reminds me of Tomas O’Leary, only worse.
@Causasua: he reminds you of a player selected to tour with the Lions having been a crucial member of a Grand Slam winning side?
As long as we persevere with Williams we are going nowhere. He is clearly not up to standard which poses the question what are his connections to the top of Munster rugby????? Useless against Zebre two weeks ago and the same tonight. Wouldn’t get near the starting line up of any other pro 14 team.
Dreadful.
@Munsterman: it was worse than dreadful!!!!
10 changes didn’t help. But 9 & 10 were very poor. Keatley’s kicking was shocking in the first half. Understandable that he’s released from Carton! Williams kicked all day to absolutely no effect, apart from gifting Cardiff a try & continuously giving them back possession. Poor leadership on the pitch. Game plan did not work for 75% of the game. Our panel is v weak as shown when our internationals are away.
@Paddy Murphy: panel is strong, it’s literally our halfbacks are the problem.
@thesaltyurchin: Bleyendaal is quality but you need a better 9 than Williams or Hart for sure.
You cant win rugby matches if you have a poor 9/10 , they contributed to 14 pts by errors
We should have killed them off when they had rees in the bin. Fair duce to Williams for his contribution but seriously we definitely have better scrum halves in the munster academy. Thought he slowed the game way down which played into Cardiffs hands at a time we should have killed them. We got 1 point when 5 points were there for the taking
@Kenneth O Connor: What’s the story with James Hart? only getting 10 mins in game like this suggests he’s not rated at all
@Sean Mannion: last time he got a run he was worse than Williams. We need Strings 2.0 (kid a Connacht with a bullet pass)
@Sean Mannion: yeah, what is the story with Hart? Can anybody comment – is Willians a better option or what’s happening there?
Dreadful watching. Really unimaginative tactics and sloppy execution, still trying to maul win games, and with the same problems at 9 and 10 as 5 seasons ago its no wonder we can’t create anything outside, glad Keatley can crack a wry smile when it puts another one out on the full (are we allowed to talk about how crap he can be again now or still a no go?) at least Williams is gone at the end of the season, you could make a cup of tea in the time he has at the back of a ruc, and it’s still not enough. Ref way off on Cronin, Cardiff deserve the win tho. Least we got a losing bonus I suppose.
@thesaltyurchin: where have you seen that Williams is gone at the end of the season?
@Jim Demps: Word on the street.
@thesaltyurchin: didn’t he sign a new contract recently?
@thesaltyurchin: whats the story with james hart?
@Johnny A: Slept with the wrong persons wife presumably!
@thesaltyurchin: I thought he signed a new contract
@thesaltyurchin: Williams has a new 2 yr contract
So incredibly blunt in attack it’s ridiculous. There’s not the slightest bit of creativity there at all, which lead to them constantly kicking the ball away. No evidence of back moves or anything. Dreadful. The defense in the first half was also shocking.
Williams not good enough. Poland did well last week when he came on. Harte also not at the races. Keats is a confidence player, one wheel comes off they all come off. Not one of his better games but others didn’t cover themselves in glory either. Ref had a howler too though. Missed knock on for 1st try and awarded penalty against Cronin for a legit steal. 10 points. Did I say Williams isn’t good enough.
People need to manage their expectations a little bit. Sure we should be beating Cardiff but these blips happen in a season. Especially when you’ve changed your head coach mid season. There has been a huge amount of turmoil over the last 2 years and for me the players have been doing exceptionally well given all that has gone on. For me a successful season will be making a semi in the champions cup and the same in the pro 14. Anything beyond that will be a great season. From there van graan can build during the off season.
Duncan Williams masterclass