On the edge of a World Cup dream
Just two months ago Rebecca Wood pulled on the Black Ferns jersey for the first time in her debut against Australia in Christchurch.
Tomorrow morning Wood will play on rugby’s biggest stage in the World Cup final against defending champions England in Ireland.
The 30-year-old lock only started playing rugby three years ago and says she has to pinch herself knowing she is about to walk out to a RWC final, something young Kiwi girls have been dreaming about this week as the Black Ferns steamrolled through their opponents.
The road to the final has yielded a 44-12 thrashing of Wales, a 121-0 try-fest against Hong Kong, a convincing 48-5 win over Canada and a seamless 45-12 victory over the United States in the semifinal.
England is the only team to beat the Black Ferns this year when they rode a brilliant rolling maul to a 29-21 win in Rotorua in June.
With this in mind, Wood says she and the team won’t be taking them lightly, but have an idea of what England may throw at them.
‘‘We’re expecting a very tough game, it will be pretty physical and I am not expecting to go out there and take them lightly. We definitely have the goods.’’
The goods they have numbers.
The Black Ferns are owning the show in Ireland with the most tries (42), most points (258), top try scorer in Portia Woodman (13), who also doubles up as the top points scorer (65) - followed closely by halfback Kendra Cocksedge (51). Black Ferns players are also top in metres gained, offloads, in clean breaks and lineout steals.
If betting by the numbers was a sure thing, the Black Ferns have already won the World Cup.
But it isn’t and Wood said the nerves are high in the Black Ferns camp. While this is her first Cup, many of the team know the feeling of losing, as they were booted out in 2014 by Ireland.
‘‘Mate, the nerves. I cannot believe it is two days away,’’ said Wood, who has come off the bench for each of the pool matches and is likely start on the bench in the final.
She started playing in Auckland in 2014 before heading across the bridge to play for East Coast Bays and North Harbour Hibiscus, for whom she played every game during the 2016 Farah Palmer Cup, catching the eye of the Black Ferns selectors.
Wood was introduced to rugby first through rugby sevens and loved it so much she took up the 15s game. While she has her dream job outside of rugby as a firewoman for Fire and Emergency New Zealand, she has realised a dream she never even knew she wanted.
‘‘I fell in love with this team. I went along to one of the trainings last year because they were short on numbers so I jumped at that opportunity. They invited me back as they must have liked what they saw and now I’m here. Absolutely it’s weird because it hasn’t been a long-term dream, but now that I’m here it’s awesome.’’