England anoint NZ as favourites
England are heaping the pressure on the Black Ferns ahead of this weekend’s women’s Rugby World Cup semifinals.
England play Canada before New Zealand take on France in a doubleheader at Eden Park in Auckland on Saturday with the winners advancing to next week’s final at the same venue.
The expansive game of the Black Ferns is in contrast to the forward-orientated approach of world No 1 England. Both are proving equally effective, with the two sides favoured to make the title match.
England are on a 29-match unbeaten streak, but their captain is playing down suggestions they will ease their way to the World Cup title, saying that wasn’t being ‘‘respectful’’ to New Zealand.
‘‘We’ve always known what they were capable of,’’ Sarah Hunter told the BBC about New Zealand, who have impressively rebounded from last year’s horror tour north.
‘‘There was no way they were going to be the team they were when they came over to us in the autumn.
‘‘Anyone that wrote them off beforehand was not being respectful towards them.’’
England head coach Simon Middleton continued that theme, declaring the Black Ferns have ‘‘got to be favourites’’ based on their Cup performances so far and their home advantage that has seen them playing in front of capacity crowds.
‘‘New Zealand play a fantastic brand of rugby. They are red hot, aren’t they? They have got to be favourites for the competition,’’ he said.
England continue to shrug off criticism of their style that has seen them use their driving maul to huge effect, scoring 17 of their 28 tries from lineouts.
‘‘No-one’s going to look back at how England scored – they’ll look at the result,’’ Hunter said.
‘‘If it isn’t broke, it doesn’t need fixing. We know if we need to strike, we’ve got amazing backs to be able to give it to them.
‘‘I don’t think there are any concerns within ourselves about how we want to play or what we’re doing.’’
Middleton agreed and enjoyed the contrast of styles with the Black Ferns as the playoffs intensify.
‘‘It’s no different from what New Zealand are doing, but they are doing it in the backs,’ Middleton said of his team’s dominance up front.
‘‘When it gets to knockout rugby, it’s about winning. You play to your strengths and I don’t really recognise the criticism. Does it frustrate me? Probably a little bit. It baffles me a little bit.
‘‘It doesn’t have to be play, play, play. That is southern hemisphere rugby – which is fantastic. But we are a northern hemisphere side. We are very good at what we do.’’