Former Black Ferns star Honey Hireme-Smiler believes the side's current European tour is exposing the team's bleak chances of retaining the women's Rugby World Cup title on home soil next year.
The Black Ferns suffered their second-straight, record-defeat at the hands of world number one England on Monday, leaving even their opponents surprised at the lack of competitiveness from the traditionally powerful Black Ferns.
Hireme-Smiler told Newstalk ZB that England's dominance is the result of a concerted effort by England Rugby to advance the women's game.
"I suppose that's what fulltime professionalism does for the game and those players. A lot of those players have been around for a while now, but just to see the progress - both individually and as a team - is really impressive.
"In the same breath, it's really hard. It's been hard to watch my Black Ferns sisters really struggle with such big scorelines up against that England team and, for me, it is, on reflection, a real indication of where we're at in terms of the investment in our Black Ferns women's rugby team."
Hireme-Smiler said that, while a two-year gap in test rugby is partly to blame for the disparity between the sides, the fact that these squad members are only part-time professionals is the main factor holding them back from staying at the top of world rugby.
"We came out of the last World Cup as champions and moved to part-time of professionalism, but it's not enough for the women. They're still juggling so many aspects of life and training and trying to stay at the top of that level and it's a big ask for them."
Hireme-Smiler believes there is a clear test case for what the returns of increased investment into the women's game does for New Zealand players; and that's in the Olympic champion sevens team.
"We've come off the last couple of months of Black Ferns sevens and they're a massive achievement in terms of the Olympic gold medal, but that shows what investment does for players. They are consistently performing well, at the top of their game, because they are now full-time professionals.
"You can see the difference in the sevens girls who are now in the 15s programme, where they're at in terms of their skillset and their impact within that 15s team."
With a World Cup defence looming in October 2022, Hireme-Smiler believes this side will have a tough time competing with the likes of England, given a continued lack of game time at the top level scheduled for its players and even with the introduction of Super Rugby Aupiki.
The new competition will run across four weekends in March and has been hailed as a stepping stone between the Farah Palmer Cup and the Black Ferns, with Aupiki translating to mean "the ascent to the uppermost realm".
"There's been a lot of talk, obviously, with the Black Ferns ladies not having much game time in the past two years. England, in that time, have been able to notch up 14 test matches. I mean, you just can't beat that in terms of test match and World Cup preparation," Hireme-Smiler said.
"So if nothing changes between now and the World Cup, England's going to come out here and dominate almost every team.
"The Super Rugby Aupiki will add some value to that but, again, it's only part-time and, when you calculate it down, it's only another four games that they get to add to their match fitness. They'll go back into club, then they'll hit Farah Palmer Cup and then they're literally stepping into a World Cup and that's not good preparation if they want to retain that World Cup."
The Black Ferns continue their European tour this coming weekend and will face a French team that has also benefitted from an increase in investment from its local union and which Hireme-Smiler believes will test the Black Ferns dearly.
"We're yet to see the upcoming games for the Black Ferns against the French, and they're really investing in their women's team as well.
"So I think those two test matches are again going to test our Black Ferns."
However, despite the grim prognosis, Hireme-Smiler says the young talent this current tour is exposing is extremely impressive and has what it takes to defend a World Cup - if they're just given the resources.
"I know they're doing it tough out there but, you know, we still have some real exciting, exciting rugby players and it's just really investing in them so they can ensure that we are bringing home that World Cup when we play it here in New Zealand."
