Coach: Satisfying victory, but player commitment needs to lift
“There’s a lot of work to do with what players want to actually commit. The overall commitment of the team is probably not where it needs to be if they want to take their rugby seriously.”
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The Southland Hinds notched up a confidence-boosting win on Saturday, although their coach has sounded a warning suggesting more player commitment is needed in the province.
Southland’s senior women’s rugby team toppled the Otago Development team 22-10 at the Waikiwi Rugby Club in Invercargill on Saturday.
It came after they trailed Otago Development 5-0 early in the game.
Southland is the only NPC province not to also field a team in the Farah Palmer Cup, New Zealand’s national provincial women’s competition.
Although Rugby Southland has put together an extensive playing programme for the women’s team, which included some “scenario” type fixtures against Farah Palmer Cup teams Canterbury, Otago, and Tasman.
They will also play games against Canterbury Development and a Heartland XV.
Coach Craig Pullar was satisfied with the victory over Otago Development on Saturday.
Pullar said Southland’s women’s club competition is largely uncontested scrums and they were found out in that department when the Hinds had previous hit outs.
Scrum coach Craig Hall has worked closely with the team and Pullar said they have improved in that area.
When asked what his overall view of women’s rugby in Southland was at the moment, he paused before delivering an honest assessment.
“Average,” Pullar responded.
“There’s a lot of work to do with what players want to actually commit. The overall commitment of the team is probably not where it needs to be if they want to take their rugby seriously.”
Pullar believed Southland could realistically push to have a Farah Palmer Cup team in the future but a good chunk of that will come down to the players themselves.
“It would only take out three or four quality players to come in and lead the ship and then just getting the mindset of the girls about what is required to play at that level is probably the big thing.
“You can only do so much as a management and a union, the players have got to drive it a wee bit as well.”
What probably also worked against Southland, in comparison to other smaller unions in the Farah Palmer Cup, is location, Pullar said.
He used Tasman as an example, given they had a significant amount of Canterbury players come in and help prop up the women’s team.
Smaller North Island unions were also able to tap into the likes of nearby neighbours Wellington and Auckland.
One of the exciting elements to the 2023 Southland Hinds team has been the emergence of 16-year-old lock Leila Hill who Pullar is tipping for a bright future.
Hill wasn’t initially able to play in Southland’s senior club competition at the start of the season because she hadn’t turned 16.
However, she is now one of the Hinds’ leading players which showed against Otago Development on Saturday.
Hill is one of a number of secondary school players in the Hinds squad which indicated there was the talent coming through.