The ‘Queens’ of RWC England faces final Test
THE Black Ferns have only ever lost two of the 37 games they have played at Rugby World Cups. They had never lost a final.
It is that type of record that helped build a legacy that this year’s team wanted to defend against England at Eden Park on Saturday.
The Black Ferns were the last team to beat the Red Roses before England went on a record 30-game winning streak which spanned back to mid-2019.
The English handed the Black Ferns heavy back-to-back defeats last year and the hosts would need to show they had improved if they were to defeat England for a fifth time in a world cup final.
Coach Wayne Smith would step away from his short tenure with the team after this tournament but he hoped he had imparted some of the elements of his favourite side - the 1967 to 69 All Blacks - in the attacking way they played.
“Brian Lochore captained it, Ian Kirkpatrick was my favourite player of all time and I used to watch them and their forwards could catch and pass like backs and so I’ve always had that in my mind - they talk about 15 man rugby, that’s 15 man rugby - that’s what I love about the game. Once I got put into this role my aim was to try and be true to that with the women,” Smith said.
Having encouraged the Black Ferns to play more freely - Smith had a warning for his successor.
“Wouldn’t like to be a coach that tried to turn them back they’ll want to keep going forward I think and develop this game further.”
Olympic gold medalist and world sevens champion Ruby Tui epitomised Smith’s preferred style of play.
Tui had been dreaming since childhood of being a part of the Black Ferns and said she had no regrets switching to 15s for a home world cup.
“Back in the day it was the underground champions (the Black Ferns) were just legends, hearsay, myths — but they’ve won more world cups than the boys,” Tui said.
Tui had a lot of respect for the England side even though she had never played them before in 15s.
“We’re about to play the best in the world, obviously want to take their heads off, but I’m proud of them and what they’ve done for women’s rugby.
“They’re leading the world in all facets of it [and] we’ve got a little bit of catching up to do. So to play the best team in the world, in New Zealand, sold out at Eden Park in front of Aotearoa with all the poi and people singing the national anthem back I can’t wait for that.”
Throughout the tournament the Black Ferns spoke of how much the increasing support for women’s rugby meant to them.
All Blacks halfback TJ Perenara had joined the chorus of backers.
“The growth in that team has been inspiring not only for me as an individual but for our team. I know that they had some tough times last year but they’ve come together, grown so much, and the footy that they’re playing out on the field is something that we can all be proud of as New Zealanders and as fans of rugby,” Perenara said.
Perenara had special admiration for the Black
Ferns retiring halfback Kendra Cocksedge - who he said was a legend across the rugby world.
“I look at her as more than whatever this result is, whatever she has achieved in the game that is all awesome but the legacy that she will leave
ENGLAND have beaten all comers over the last three seasons and on Saturday in Auckland will formally seal their status as the best women’s rugby team on the planet if they can dethrone hosts New Zealand in the World Cup final.’
The Black Ferns, winners of five of the seven World Cups they have contested, were the last team to beat the Red Roses back in 2019 but suffered heavy defeats in back-to-back tests in England last year that dented their aura.
That was after two years without any test rugby because of the Covid-19 pandemic, however, and Wayne Smith’s revitalised team will be confident of being closer to England’s prodigious standards in front of a packed house at Eden Park on Saturday.
England coach Simon Middleton’s suggestion that playing at home might work against the Black Ferns triggered a swift put-down from Smith, who helped mastermind two men’s World Cup triumphs with the All Blacks.
■ is going to be amazing.
“There’ll be kids talking about her for a long time, there’ll be professional rugby players in the future who will say ‘I looked up to Kenj when I was a young girl and she was the reason I play the game.” ■