Black Ferns prove a big hit on TV

Support for the Black Ferns continues to surge, inside and outside stadiums.

New Zealand Rugby CEO Steve Tew revealed the national women’s team, that retained the Laurie O’Reilly Memorial Trophy after a 2-0 series cleansweep against Australia, is more popular than ever – something his organisation will surely use to use to its advantage during the bid to host the women’s World Cup in 2021.

The Black Ferns’ 45-17 win over the Wallaroos at Eden Park in Auckland last weekend followed a 31-11 demolition in the first test in Sydney a week earlier.

At the end of their game at Eden Park, a curtain-raiser to the All Blacks-Wallabies test, there were more than 28,000 fans in attendance. Tew compared this to the figure of 12,500 who had walked through the turnstiles at the same ground in 2016 for the same fixture.

More TV viewers were also tuning into games, he said.

‘‘Last week we had the highest viewership for a women’s test match, almost 250,000 out of Sydney. Both games have been very well supported.’’

The TV numbers for the test in Auckland have yet to be released.

Building on the Black Ferns’ achievements continues to be a priority for NZ Rugby. At its monthly meeting the board received details of a high performance development programme to underpin the growth of women’s rugby. This is subject to the budget later in the year.

The Black Ferns will play three more games this year. They will form part of a ‘‘tripleheader’’ bill when they play in Chicago on November 4 against a US team. The NZ Maori will play their US male counterparts on the same day, as will Italy and Ireland. The Black Ferns will then fly to France, for tests in Toulon and Grenoble.