Nervy England come out on top
“The biggest challenge in women’s rugby” (NZR)
Both sides looked nervous in the opening phases, the Black Ferns justifiably, the Red Roses less so. The game rarely developed into well-structured spells of possession, but England had the sharper edge, winning the try battle 4-2.
The first dangerous attack came from the Ferns. England lost the ball in a heavy tackle; it spread right to Ayesha Leti-I’iga; she made a dangerous run, but Zoe Aldcroft nabbed a loose ball and Holly Aitchison cleared. England were being stretched.
Another attack to worry the crowd, but suddenly Aimee Barrett-Theron awarded England an unexpected penalty – another negligent Ferns’ infringement; they were to cost them dear.
For example, at an early line-out ABT warned the forwards about moving too early, but they offended again. Another half-chance gone.
Alex Matthews spotted a gap beside a ruck and was away. When the ball came back, Aitchison looked for one of her long passes to Jess Breach, but threw it into touch.
Twice Maddie Feaunati lost possession in contact. On the one occasion Leti-I’iga made strides towards the line, but Breach got back to bring her down. She’s been listening to critics of the back threes’ defensive powers.
At last we saw Abby Dow striding down the wing; she aimed a kick ahead to chase, but the Ferns had it covered, and it needed more desperate tackles to keep them at bay as they struck back.
Now Maia Joseph surprised everyone bar Leti I’iga by hoisting a cross-kick into her arms. Ellie Kildunne managed to halt her and cause a knock-on. This wan’t going to order, but John Mitchell had wanted to have his team set problems. The Ferns were generous enough to provide them. They were consistently getting a shoulder beyond the tackle to create further chances. And Emily Scarratt twice had kicks charged down. Times were changing.
On sixteen minutes the Red Roses at last got things moving. Sarah Bern spotted a gap and charged through. Mo Hunt added a searching diagonal to the right corner. The Ferns were penalised for holding on right under their posts; England showed their approach by ignoring the three points and going for the corner again.
From there a rolling maul proved unstoppable. Try to Marlie Packer – again! 5-0.
From there the nay-sayers about English tactics had to revise their thinking. The three tries the Red Roses added were all scored by backs. Ultra-quick ball saw Tatyana Heard send a wonderful pass wide right to Dow, she ran past defenders as if they weren’t there; England 10-0 up.
Possibly a new first for England now: Aitchison was timed out before she completed her conversion. ‘Get on with the game!’ say the new regulations. There are still many more areas where it could and should be speeded up.
There was a dramatic sequence as Kildunne attacked down the left. The ball finished up bobbling around the Kiwi line; from there they attacked! But as with the French last week, they were finding it hard completing moves.
It was Kildunne again who completed another whirlwind raid. Her outside arc was blocked, so she twisted back inside and rode two tackles to make the touchdown. The TMO was needed to confirm. That made a change after two less happy TMO interventions in WXV last year. 17-0
Just before the break Leti I’iga made another dangerous break. Now Aldcroft rushed across to halt her, but caught her too high. Our first yellow.
Another big let-off followed. The Ferns seemed to be walking the ball over the line when ABT intervened again: penalty for obstruction. A charmed life, or what?
Half-time 17-0
Amy Rule was the one change, at tight-head.
The Ferns got off to a poor start. A pass was fumbled midfield close to their line. The English pack made several thrusts, but, as last week with Lucy Packer, it was Hunt who dummied and just reached the whitewash. 24-0
For the remaining 38 minutes the Red Roses failed to add a point. They were still without Aldcroft for a while, but that Hunt try was scored without her presence.
Instead it was the Black Ferns who countered successfully, reminiscent of the three previous games between the two sides.
Twice it was the elusive Katelyn Vahaakolo who did the trick. Her first try came after a long searcher from Scarratt. The Ferns countered, Vahaakolo slipped a tackle and sped over. Her second effort was a kick and chase. As the ball bounced around, the English back three couldn’t haul it in; Ruby Tui, just on, offered a scoring pass. 24-12.
Could the Ferns build on these breakthroughs? No. Long passages of play now became scrappy, as both sides went on making errors to spoil the effect.
Aitchison sent her first grubber over the line. Kildunne chased it in, but Sylvia Brunt got the first touch.
The English front row was replaced and the newcomers hurled the Ferns back at their first scrum. But that pattern was short-lived.
The youthful inexperience of the Ferns was shown when Hannah King chased an English kick back into her own in-goal, then chose to run it out. She’s unlikely to try that again. Had she watched Emilie Boulard make the same error?
The referee made another innovative call, ordering a free-kick for England as Joseph was too slow reacting to “Use it!”.
One more thrilling movement from England: Heard, once more a leading figure in attack and defence, fizzed a fine pass out to Dow. She moved it on to the newly arrived Helena Rowland, but she was hauled down just short of the line.
Georgia Brock was allowed her debut with eleven minutes left; the skipper departed. There was concern as Amy Cokayne played on after treatment on her leg, then regretted it. We have to hope it doesn’t mean another injury absence for her.
The game ended with Harrison, who had looked calm and collected during her short stay, safely touching down behind her line.
This was a much closer affair than the WXV meeting; the Kiwi players and coaching staff had done a lot of hard work. A 12-point deficit could easily be corrected over the coming months.
As for the English, they looked tense in the opening stages, and were rarely allowed to hit top gear for the rest of the game. They were sharper in attack when the occasion arose, but one or two players may have question-marks placed against their names now. It’s a fortnight till hostilities recommence in distant Vancouver.
Result: England 24 New Zealand 12
Player of the Match: Alex Matthews
Attendance 41,523
Teams:
England
15 Ellie Kildunne 14 Abby Dow 13 Emily Scarratt 12 Tatyana Heard 11 Jess Breach 10 Holly Aitchison 9 Mo Hunt 1 Mackenzie Carson 2 Lark Atkin-Davies 3 Sarah Bern 4 Zoe Aldcroft 5 Abbie Ward 6 Maddie Feaunati 7 Marlie Packer (captain) 8 Alex Matthews
16 Amy Cokayne 17 Hannah Botterman 18 Maud Muir 19 Morwenna Talling 20 *Georgia Brock 21 Lucy Packer 22 Zoe Harrison 23 Helena Rowland
*uncapped
New Zealand
15 Renee Holmes 14 Ayesha Leti-I’iga 13 Logo-i-Pulotu Lemapu-Atai’i (Sylvia) Brunt 12 Ruahei Demant (co-captain) 11 Katelyn Vahaakolo 10 Hannah King 9 Maia Joseph 1 Chryss Viliko 2 Georgia Ponsonby 3 Tanya Kalounivale 4 Alana Bremner 5 Maiakawanakaulani Roos 6 Liana Mikaele-Tu’u 7 Kennedy Tukuafu (nee Simon, co-captain) 8 Kaipo Olsen-Baker
16 Atlanta Lolohea 17 Kate Henwood 18 Amy Rule 19 Maama Mo’onia Vaipulu 20 Layla Sae 21 Irtitana Hohaia 22 Amy du Plessis 23 Ruby Tui
Officials:
Referee: Aimee Barrett-Theron (SARU)
AR1: Aurélie Groizeleau (FFR)
AR2: Chelsea Gillespie (SRU)
TMO: Leo Colgan (IRFU)
Afterthoughts
Was this just a build-up match, or the real thing? The coaches and players all had to decide where their priorities lay. The Black Ferns knew they have far too few high-quality matches to test themselves. For them the big occasion at Twickenham had to be an all-out affair; no holding back.
But in the background lay the broader canvas of a three-match series in Canada.
A real curiosity is the attendance. By any standard up to the 2023 France game, it is admirable, but over 6,000 fewer than watched the Ireland match last year. Did fans go to the ex-Allianz Stadium in London NW4 by mistake? The RFU would be fascinated to know why the world champions failed to draw a much bigger crowd.
