Black Ferns on top of the world

The Black Ferns are world champions once again.

A dominant second half display saw them wrestle the title off England as they beat the defending champions 41-32 in the Women’s World Cup final in Ireland yesterday. It was their fifth title following on from 1998, 2002, 2006 and 2010.

All eyes were on try-scoring ace Portia Woodman for New Zealand, but prop Toka Natua upstaged her team-mate.

The prop bagged a hat-trick, including crucial tries on either side of the halftime break, to steal the spotlight in the final.

Fullback Selica Winiata got herself on the scoresheet twice after being on the end of a pair of Victoria Subritzky-nafatali crossfield kicks.

Black Ferns captain Fiao’o Fa’amausili was proud of how the team fought back.

‘‘We dug deep,’’ she said in the post-match broadcast. ‘‘[England] really gave it to us in that first 15-20 minutes. But our girls showed the character in our team, the culture in our team and I could not be any prouder.’’

England captain Sarah Turner credited New Zealand’s secondhalf effort for the win.

‘‘We just lost the momentum and they got it. They got on top and we just couldn’t seem to get our hands on the ball. When we did we looked threatening. We fought for everything but the game got away on us.’’

New Zealand trailed at halftime, but flexed their muscles in the second half as they ran away with the game. They cleaned up the mistakes that plagued their first 40 minutes, stopped kicking the ball away and got stars like Portia Woodman, Sarah Goss and Winiata more involved.

Initially, England used their powerful forward pack to help pin New Zealand inside their 22 in a half where they starved th Ferns of possession and territory.

But the Black Ferns’ defence was up to the task and when they finally got some attacking ball, they were quick to strike. First five-eighth Subritzky-nafatali put in a crossfield kick for Woodman, but the ball bounced right into the hands of Winiata to score.

That proved to be a rare attacking flurry in the first half for New Zealand as England took control. Things got a lot tougher for New Zealand in the 20th minute when Goss was harshly yellow carded for a tip tackle. It was a lifting tackle, but the England player never appeared to go past the horizontal.

England set up shop on the New Zealand tryline and were eventually rewarded with a penalty try in 25th minute from a scrum.

Goss returned to the field, only to see England bag their second try within a minute as Rachael within seven at halftime.

The prop was back on the scoresheet five minutes into the second half as New Zealand levelled the score.

Just as the Black Ferns looked to be set to pull away, a wayward Subritzky-nafatali was punished by Thompson who beat Woodman on the outside for a try.

In a match packed with drama, New Zealand returned serve as Natua rumbled over for her hat-trick.

They continued their secondhalf rumble with Kendra Cocksedge crossing from short range as they pulled ahead for an 11-point lead.

Lesley Ketu was yellowed carded for her team’s infringements with four minutes to go, allowing England to pick up a consolation try.