Smith puts heat on Black Ferns to improve
Wayne Smith referenced the All Blacks’ misfires at World Cups in an attempt to ram home a message after the Black Ferns beat the Wallaroos 52-5 in Christchurch on Saturday night.
While the Black Ferns’ win over the Wallaroos ensured they retained the O’Reilly Cup ahead of the second test in Adelaide this weekend, the big question is how they will fare against the big guns – England and France – when the World Cup starts in New Zealand in seven weeks.
The match in Adelaide will be the Black Ferns’ final outing before they meet the Wallaroos in their first pool game at Eden
Park on October 8.
Despite the big victory in Christchurch, the memory of what unfolded late last year, when the Black Ferns suffered four defeats to the two northern hemisphere giants, may have lingered in the back of the 4000 fans’ minds as they exited the ground.
At this juncture, England and France are clearly the favourites, but Smith stated it would be an error to become fixated by those teams.
‘‘I am not even thinking about that, I am thinking about playing Australia first-up at Eden Park,’’ he said. ‘‘Having been to a lot of World Cups, other teams march behind the flag and you can’t judge them on these games.
‘‘They grow another leg. And we had a long period with the All Blacks, where we got surprised by that.’’
Having experienced joy and heartburn while involved in three World Cup campaigns with the All Blacks, Smith has valid reasons to be circumspect.
The former test first fiveeighth assisted John Hart, and later Sir Graham Henry, when the All Blacks crashed out of the global tournaments in 1999 and 2007, but finally celebrated success when they beat France 8-7 in the 2011 final in Auckland.
Henry was still the head coach, assisted by Sir Steve Hansen and Smith when the All Blacks finally broke their 24-year drought at Eden Park.
Given what unfolded on Saturday night, however, it would require a monumental reversal in form for the Wallaroos, who leaked eight tries and replied with just one, to win in Adelaide.
Smith, though, will demand more from his players; he admitted that if the Black Ferns’ execution had been more efficient they could have scored up to six more tries.
The Black Ferns used their diligent forwards to send shock waves through the Aussie camp and the defence was solid, a reflection of the input from assistant coach Wes Clarke.
‘‘But I think they [Australia] are going to be better than that, and we are going to be playing on their home ground next week,’’ Smith stated. ‘‘So we just have to get better.’’
Judging from their performances this year, they also convincingly beat the Wallaroos, Canada and the United States in the Pacific Four Nations tournament, the Black Ferns aren’t going to produce left-field surprises at the World Cup.
Rather than try to base their game around power in the pack, as England and France are likely to do, the Black Ferns will be keen to back their speed, skills and technique.
‘‘We are conditioned for combat, and more and more, we are starting to put it out on the field,’’ Smith said in reference to the prominent performances from the forwards.
‘‘You have got to be realistic as well, we are not going to outmuscle some of those bigger teams.
‘‘So we have to be smart with the way we play, and raise the tempo of the game.’’