Kiwi Ferns cruise into final with big win over England

Well, the Kiwi Ferns made that one look easy.

New Zealand have stormed to a comfortable 52-4 victory over England in Sydney yesterday to book a place in the final of the Rugby League World Cup.

Star winger Honey Hireme scored a hat-trick in the rout, taking her tournament try tally to 11, as the Kiwi Ferns piled on 38 second-half points.

Simply outclassed, England missed an incredible 45 tackles during the match.

Hireme crossed for a double midway through the second half to break the Lionesses backs as the Kiwi Ferns advanced to their fifth World Cup final in five attempts.

The English were still in the hunt down 14-4 at the halftime break thanks to a Tara-Jane Stanley try in the 22nd minute.

Hireme had a mixed first half but put her stamp on the match after the break, strolling over in the left-hand corner six minutes after the resumption.

She charged over for a second in the 57th to take the game out of England’s hands at 28-4 before she put the icing on the cake with a powerful run to grab her third in the 78th.

Amazingly, the Black Ferns and sevens rugby international could have had two more but twice elected to hand the ball off to a team-mate with the tryline begging.

First, in the 67th, the Kiwi Ferns created space on the edge and Hireme looked certain to score however she passed it to Hilda Peters, despite having the line wide open in front of her. Then, with the final play of the game, she busted through five tackles and was in the in-goal but handed it off to skipper Laura Mariu.

After a mixed showing in their 36-8 win over Papua New Guinea last week, coach Tony Benson would have been happy with his side’s complete performance heading into the final. The three-time champions are seeking to regain the World Cup after losing to Australia in the 2013 final.