Black Ferns fall to nearrecord loss

The Black Ferns suffered a shock loss to France in their Super Series clash in San Diego yesterday.

For just the second time, France claimed victory over the Ferns, triumphing 25-16 despite having three players sent to the sinbin.

In one of their sloppiest showings, the Black Ferns couldn’t produce a similar performance to the ones that had seen them claim victories over Canada 35-20 and the United States 33-0, being well beaten by the world No 3 side.

France are clearly a team on the rise, and despite having lost 36-19 to Canada earlier in the tournament, showed why they had toppled the Black Ferns 30-27 last year.

Despite that, the Black Ferns were poor, only narrowly avoiding their biggest ever defeat with a late consolation try, with captain Kendra Cocksedge left to rue a disappointing 50th test.

France had made eight changes after their defeat to Canada, and raced out to a 15-0 lead after just 17 minutes thanks to some nifty footwork from Caroline Boujard and some sloppy defence from the Black Ferns, as well as a bit of luck — dotting down after a penalty attempt hit the posts, with Maelle Filopon quickest to react.

A remarkable refereeing decision was to follow, with the TMO correctly overruling a yellow card decision against the French in a rare sinbin reversal, as France held an 18-6 lead at the break.

A superb counter-attacking try finished by Jessy Tremouliere, after Cocksedge failed to find touch with a penalty, made it 25-9, and although a rash of yellow cards saw France finish with 13 women, the only way the Black Ferns could score was through a penalty try, and that merely reduced the deficit to a non-historic margin.

The Black Ferns next have a bye in the Super Series, before they finish the competition against England next Monday. France 25 (Jessy Tremouliere, Caroline Boujard, Maelle Filopon tries; Tremouliere 2 cons, 2 pens)

Black Ferns 16 (Penalty try; Kendra Cocksedge 3 pens) Halftime: 18-6.