Pacific Four, Round Two, Christchurch
Saturday 17 May
It’s not every day you get to see the sides ranked two and three facing off against each other. But with the Pac-4 series, it’s grown easier.
Kévin Rouet has called up Courtney O’Donnell, DeLeaka Menin, Claire Gallagher and Emily Tuttosi to start – no surprise there. Gallagher’s inclusion means the captain shifts back to inside centre. But the addition of three 7s stars, Asia Hogan-Rochester, Florence Symonds and Alysha Corrigan as starters was less obvious. It suggests that Rouet still has half an eye on the RWC.
Either way, it means the bench will be one of the strongest in world rugby.
For the Black Ferns it’s a case of putting right what went wrong last year in Vancouver. The word they use is “redemption”, a bit less cut-throat than “revenge”.
The game sees the return at No 8 of Liana Mikaele-Tu’u for the first time this year. It means that Kaipo Olsen-Baker is benched, but that helps to strengthen that vital part of the 23, not consistently the Ferns’ strongest suit.
The big addition among the starters is Portia Woodman-Wickliffe. Allan Bunting praises her to the skies. Her opponents may wonder if this adulation is strictly necessary; everyone knows about her prowess.
Her selection means Katelyn Vahaakolo’s name disappears. The starlet Braxton Sorensen-McGee starts again at 15.
It will be instructive to see the size of the crowd in Christchurch. This is a rare trip to South Island, which, apart from Matatū in the Super Aupiki, has to take a back seat in Ferns’ affairs.
As things stand
Canada lead New Zealand by 00.30 points on the ranking tree. It could hardly be tighter.
Teams
Black Ferns
1. Viliko 2. Ponsonby 3. Rule 4. Bremner 5. Roos 6. Sae 7. Tukuafu (co-captain) 8. Mikaele-Tu’u 9. Joseph 10. Demant (co-captain) 11. Leti-I’iga 12. Brunt 13. du Plessis 14. Woodman-Wickliffe 15. Sorensen-McGee
16. Lolohea 17. Henwood 18. Kalounivale 19. Vaipulu 20. Olsen-Baker 21. Hohaia 22. King 23. Paul
Canada
1. Kassil 2. Tuttosi 3. Menin 4. O’Donnell 5. Royer 6. Forteza 7. Paquin 8. Senft 9. Pelletier 10. Gallagher 11. Corrigan 12. Tessier 13. Symonds 14. Hogan-Rochester 15. Schell
16. Boag 17. Hunt 18. Wood 19. Beukeboom 20. Crossley 21 Apps 22. Seumanutafa 23. Bermudez
Referee: Kat Roche (USAR)
