Woodman hat-trick rescues Black Ferns
Portia Woodman’s hat-trick rescued the Black Ferns as the hosts recovered from a nightmare start to beat the determined Wallaroos 41-17 in their Rugby World Cup opener in Auckland last night.
The occasion was massive but equally intense. A world record crowd for a women’s rugby match packed into Eden Park were expectant of the host nation at their first World Cup in New Zealand.
The Black Ferns, the reigning, five-time world champions, struggled for composure until unleashing a strong finish.
Eventually, it was the firepower coach Wayne Smith has wanted to unleash in attack that sunk Australia by seven tries to three.
Captain and first five-eighth Ruahei Demant led the way in the second half. Her break led to the second try for superstar wing
Woodman that levelled the scores before the Wallaroos, crucially, lost two players to the sinbin.
The Wallaroos were 17-0 up in the 28th minute after two tries for rookie wing Bienne Terita. The nerves were jangling.
The Black Ferns were making simple mistakes that allowed Australia to camp in New Zealand’s 22.
The fears about their discipline around the breakdown were evident and the tension throughout the crowd was high.
The unthinkable, a first defeat to the Wallaroos, seemed possible because the Black Ferns were freezing on the biggest stage of their lives.
It was only Woodman’s hattrick clincher on the hour, after a wondrous offload from centre Stacey Fluhler, that determined the pool A clash before Ruby Tui’s brace in the final quarter.
The Black Ferns had to make plenty of tackles until Australia, finally, breached their line in the 13th minute after repelling two
lineout drives, holding up the Wallaroos on their line, but they were conceding penalties to remain trapped in their 22.
Terita first crossed in the right corner and Ivanina Wong then pounced on a risky Tui pass that went to ground and sprinted 60 metres down the left flank to score, stunning the home crowd.
The Black Ferns weren’t in Australia’s half until winning the restart following Terita’s second try and went through the middle of the Wallaroos to get back into the game.
Lock Joanah Ngan-Woo planted the ball down for a nervesettling try in the 31st minute and Woodman’s finish before halftime reduced their deficit to five.
The big moment
Two yellow cards for the Wallaroos in the 54th minute. Wong was sinbinned as the Black Ferns were on the break and
Australia captain Shannon Parry was fortunate to only see yellow for cannoning a shoulder into Liana Mikaele-Tu’u’s head.
Mikaele-Tu’u, who had an outstanding game at loose forward, left the field for a head injury assessment.
Replacement loosehead prop Awhina Tangen-Wainohu crashed over to give the Black Ferns the lead for the first time a few minutes later.
MVP
There is no better finisher in the game than Woodman. Each try was expertly taken. Demant was brilliant, as was Sarah Hirini at openside flanker.
Match rating: 7/10
This was a tighter contest than was expected, but the Ferns dug deep to captivate a record crowd.
The big picture
The Black Ferns host Wales in their second pool A match at Auckland’s Waitā kere Stadium next Sunday. Australia play Scotland in Whangā rei on Saturday.