Fresh from victory in the Pacific Four Series, Black Ferns coaches and players now turn their attention to a trial match, to be played in Pukukohe next week.
The match will feature the majority of the squad that took part in the Pacific Four Series, with an additional 18 of the country’s leading players.
Dubbed Ngalingali v Rawata (‘possibles’ in Tongan and Fijian) the match will kick off at 7.05pm on Friday 8 July at Navigation Homes Stadium and will be broadcast live on Sky Sport.
Leading coaches Anna Richards, Scott Manson, Crystal Kaua and Victoria Grant will lead the two teams, with the Black Ferns coaching group of Wayne Smith, Wesley Clarke and Whitney Hansen watching on.
Black Ferns Director of Rugby Wayne Smith said adding this trial to the women’s rugby calendar was an important opportunity to pit the country’s best players against each other.
“Quite simply put, there are players we need to see. We’ve given messages to those players who had been in camps and weren’t quite ready for PAC4, this is their chance to put their form on the track.
“We’ll have 18 players from outside of the PAC4 squad take part in the trial, some have been greats of the game, some have been best in the world, so we expect this match to be very competitive,” said Smith.
Following the trial, players will return to their provincial unions for the start of the Farah Palmer Cup, with the Black Ferns squad for the O’Reilly Cup Series to be named later in July.
Black Ferns Trial
Ngalingali v Rawata
Friday 8 July, kick off 7.05pm
Navigation Homes Stadium
With thanks to New Zealand Rugby
