A spotlight is about to shine brightly on women’s rugby with the start of the 2022 Rugby World Cup in New Zealand. Logan Savory caught up with a three-time cup winner who some current Black Ferns players have turned to for inspiration.
Casey Caldwell’s (née Robertson) annual leave balance was never all that healthy through her 20s.
From 2002 through to 2014 – barring a two-year spell through a neck injury – the Southland farmer was one of New Zealand’s leading women’s rugby players.
She attended four World Cups in total, winning three of them. It’s a remarkable sporting record that probably lacked the fanfare it actually warrants.
Caldwell recalls being gifted a watch after winning one of those World Cups. Although the reality is the trio of triumphs were fuelled solely by the love of rugby, and the people attached to the sport.
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She worked on farms as a shepherd during her time as a Black Fern. That was broken up by a four-year stint working for Touch New Zealand in Christchurch.
Caldwell, who switched between prop and No 8 as a Black Fern, had to be selective around her day job while playing rugby.
“There were a couple of years I had to take unpaid leave to go [on tour]. I was just lucky I had bosses that would let me do that. When I went to a job I made sure I told them I play rugby,” Caldwell recalls.
“I think all my [annual leave] was taken up through rugby. There weren’t many holidays to be had unless you stayed on after your tour for a wee bit.”
Although what eased the juggling act was the fact test matches were actually relatively scarce during Caldwell’s playing era.
She debuted as a 21-year-old in 2002 and played her final test as a 33-year-old in 2014. During that 12-year period, Caldwell amassed just 39 caps.
“The World Cup year was the year we got a lot of games. Some years we were lucky to play one test match if it wasn’t a World Cup year.”
Those in the Black Ferns’ class of 2022 live a much different rugby life, in regard to both the financial and playing opportunities now available.
The Black Ferns first started receiving part-time contracts in 2018, with players earning a base retainer of between $12,000 and $25,000.
This year New Zealand Rugby moved to contract 30 fulltime players. The base retainers start at $35,000, with benefits and appearance fees added. It’s understood top Black Ferns can earn around $130,000 under the contract model.
Contracted Black Ferns commit between 24 and 30 hours a week to rugby. Personal development days have also been written into the contracts, allowing players to focus on non-rugby-related pursuits, including those who have careers.
It’s a world apart from when Caldwell and co forked out for their own gym memberships and took annual leave to attend World Cups.
“I can’t moan. The players before us, they paid to go [on tour],” Caldwell says.
“Yes, my bank balance did take a bit of a hit with all the travel and that, but I loved doing it and that’s why I did it.”
“I wouldn’t change it. I travelled the world and got to meet some great people.”
For Caldwell, there are some mixed feelings attached to the significant increase in investment and attention for the Black Ferns in recent years.
“I just hope that [investment] filters back through to the lower grades; that’s my worry. They are pushing stuff through the Black Ferns which is great, and it needed to happen in some manner. But it does have to start at the lower grades,” Caldwell says.
“There needs to be a huge push at the junior level for women’s rugby if they really want to improve the Black Ferns at the end of the day.”
It includes increasing the player base at a junior level, as well as the skill level of younger players, she says.
Caldwell feels the introduction of some Back Ferns sevens players to the 15s programme – Sarah Hirini, Portia Woodman, Ruby Tui – will provide glowing examples for other 15s players as just what it takes to be a professional athlete. That has to be good long-term, she says.
“Those sevens girls are amazing athletes and if the whole team can get on board with that I think they’ll do really well.”
Caldwell’s rise to becoming a Black Fern was a unique one given she didn’t start playing rugby until she was 16 years old.
Her sport was hockey, that was before some mates at the Southland Girls’ High School hostel roped her into playing for the school’s 2nd XV rugby team because they were short on numbers.
She caught the rugby bug and decided to apply for a rugby scholarship to attend Lincoln University in 1999.
That then led to a rapid rise to the Canterbury team and by 2001 the Southlander was playing against the Black Ferns in a warm-up fixture.
The next year Caldwell was playing for the Black Ferns and her hockey exploits took a back seat.
“I didn’t have a lot of downtime to wonder what I wanted to do really.”
“I couldn’t keep both [hockey and rugby] up, and I really enjoyed the rugby.”
Caldwell is one of four players that the current Black Ferns group has used for some inspiration heading into the start of the 2022 Rugby World Cup in Auckland on Saturday.
The Black Ferns have been split into four “mini-groups” and Caldwell’s name aligned to one of those groups.
When the Black Ferns were in Adelaide in August for a test against Australia Caldwell spoke to the players via Zoom about her rugby journey.
“I told them I wasn’t the most skillful player or talented player, but I probably had the most determination.”
Caldwell’s path to representing New Zealand at a Rugby World Cup somewhat mirrors the route current Black Ferns tight-head prop Amy Rule and midfielder Amy du Plessis have followed. In particular that of Rule.
Like Caldwell, Rule hails from rural Southland and was a latecomer to the sport of rugby.
Rule also took up the sport after being roped in by some mates during her final year at Aparima College at the seaside town of Riverton.
For years after taking up the sport in 2017 Rule was representing New Zealand at test level in 2021.
A year on Rule will now line up for her country in a World Cup in New Zealand.
du Plessis moved to Southland from South Africa when she was seven. She emerged as a promising talent when she was a key part of Southland Girls’ High School’s rugby success. It included helping the Invercargill school win its first national Top 4 final in 2016.
The now 23-year-old made her Black Ferns debut against Canada in the 2022 Pacific Four Series in Waitākere.
Like Caldwell, Rule and du Plessis both made the move to Canterbury to play in the Farah Palmer Cup on the way to becoming Black Ferns.
Caldwell says she doesn’t personally know the Southland pair but has kept an eye on their progress.
“My mate coaches Canterbury, so I’ve been following them a bit.”
Caldwell’s current rugby involvement is limited given her workload as both a mother of three and a farmer.
Although the 41-year-old has previously shown some promise as a coach. It included coaching the Wyndham senior men’s team in Southland.
Under Caldwell’s watch, Wyndham won Southland’s division one grade in 2016.
Caldwell hopes more women will get involved in coaching, and in particular more people wanting to coach women’s rugby teams.
The introduction of the Super Rugby Aupiki comp[etition has provided more elite coaching opportunities within the women’s game for coaches to aspire to.
“It is quite hard to get people interested in coaching women’s rugby. We ended up coaching our club team for years and years because we couldn’t get coaches,” Caldwell says.
The 2022 World Cup kicks off on Saturday in Auckland with three games. The first is between South Africa and France, followed by tournament favorites England taking on Fiji, with New Zealand and Australia to round out the night.
A sell out crowd of 50,000 is expected on Saturday which will break the record attendance of 20,000, set in France in 2014, for a women’s Rugby World Cup fixture.
Caldwell has been asked to head up Auckland for the occasion but has opted to instead tune in on TV from Southland to watch how it all unfolds.
THE LOWDOWN
Casey Caldwell (née Robertson)
Provincial unions: Southland, Canterbury
Position: Prop & No 8
Black Ferns caps: 39 (from 2002 to 2014).
World Cup victories: 2002 in Spain, 2006 in Canada, 2010 in England. (Caldwell also played in the 2014 event where New Zealand finished fifth.)
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