New Zealand v USA
Pacific Four, Round Three
The Eagles made a promising start, winning penalties and territory, to cause the big crowd to delay their celebrations. By the end the scales had tipped wildly the other way, sending the Black Ferns and their fans into raptures.
Mackenzie Hawkins’ early touch kicks lacked accuracy, but from her second the pack drove mightily close to the line. Sadly, they had let Alana Bremner insert herself, to prevent a score. ‘Held up’.
But they came again, building a really impressive attack, involving Ilona Maher, Sariah Ibarra and Hope Rogers (twice). The ball moved wide, then back to the middle; finally Freda Tafuna forced her way over to break the deadfock. 0-7
The trouble was, any error they made was exploited ruthlessly by the Ferns. An illegal ruck entry by Rachel Johnson gave them their first chance to shine. Georgia Ponsonby got to the line, but once more ‘Held up!
Now we saw the Ferns at their best; quality offloads disrupted the defences, and suddenly an attacking line of four advanced with hardly an opponent in sight. Katelyn Vahaakolo scored on the right. 7-7
Braxton Sorensen-McGee was already showing her youthful class, slipping through and offering an offload. Now we saw the size of the task Sione Fukofuka has taken on. A poor US pass fell straight into opposition hands, and Jorja Miller was allowed to show her 7s skills with a break, escaping from a tackle and feeding Vahaakolo for a desperately easy score. 12-7
Already a central contrast was evident: inventive off-the-cuff play comes naturally to the Ferns, not to the Eagles. Their moves tended to look pre-planned, and far too many passes were going to ground. But it was encouraging to see both sides willing to counter-ruck at the breakdown.
NZ muffed two chances to score, but it was time for Portia Woodman-Wickliffe to make her mark. Ilona Maher had the job of cutting her down; she did so once, but the next time PWW got the ball down over the line under the greatest pressure. Believe it or not, she was to score six (6) more tries, to set a new Ferns’ all-time record.
Sorensen-McGee started another move which brought PWW a much simpler try. Kate Zackary showed her quality in getting back to make a tackle, but the ball was away again. 24-7
It was a relief for the neutral that the Eagles countered promptly. A Hawkins penalty led to a drive from close in, and the inevitable result was yet another try for Hope Rogers. 24-14
That, I fear, was as good as it got for the Eagles. From this point, less than 30 minutes into the match, it was one-way traffic. The Ferns turned on all the taps to build a quite massive score. By half-time they had scored 34 points; by full time they had added 45 more.
The stampede started, as so often, on the end of a nice Eagles’ move. One faulty pass, and the Ferns were on the rampage. Jorja Miller, looking more like a wizened loose forward than an outstanding 7s star on debut, made a huge break, and that was another try for PWW.
From there it was difficult for soft-hearted spectators to go on watching. The scoreboard belonged to a cricket ground: 40, 50, 60, 70…
Right near the end we could see all the Eagles’ deficiencies. In possession in defence, they refused to kick deep; phase after phase till the inevitable error, snd they were still inside their own red zone. The process continued right up to the 82nd minute, when PWW – rather overdoing her playing to the crowd (dancing beyond the far touch-line, and so on) – waltzed over for her seventh offering. She looked pleased with herself, reminiscent of her eight tries against Hong Kong in a past RWC.
The Pac-4 trophy was safe in Kiwi hands.
Result: New Zealand 79 USA 14
Teams
New Zealand
1. Kate Henwood, 2. Georgia Ponsonby, 3. *Veisinia Mahutariki-Fakalelu, 4. Alana Bremner,
5. Maiakawanakaulani Roos, 6. Liana Mikaele-Tu’u, 7. *Jorja Miller, 8. Kaipo Olsen-Baker, 9. “Risaleaana Pouri-Lane, 10. Ruahei Demant (co-captain), 11. Katelyn Vahaakolo, 12. Theresa Setefano, 13. Stacey Waaka, 14. Portia Woodman-Wickliffe, 15. Braxton Sorensen-McGee,
16. *Vici-Rose Green, 17. Awhina Tangen-Wainohu, 18. Tanya Kalounivale, 19. Chelsea Bremner, 20. Kennedy Tukuafu (co-captain), 21. Maia Joseph, 22. Hannah King, 23. Logo-I-Pulotu Lemapu-Atai’i Sylvia Brunt
*uncapped
USA
1 Hope Rogers 2. Paige Stathopoulos 3. Keia Kae Sagapolu 4. Hallie Taufoou 5. Erica Jarrell 6. Freda Tafuna 7. Kate Zackary (captain) 8. Rachel Johnson 9. Olivia Ortiz 10. Sariah Ibarra 11. Cheta Emba 12. Mackenzie Hawkins 13. Ilona Maher 14. Emily Henrich 15. Bolou Mataitoga
16. Kathryn Treder 17. Alivia Leaterman 18. Charli Jacoby 19. Rachel Ehrecke 20. Tahlia Brody 21. Cass Bargell 22. Nicole Heavirland 23. Tess Feury
Referee: Sara Cox (RFU)
Afterthoughts
One day there is going to be a serious injury to a player caused by a mobile camera-operator standing far too close to play. Here an example was NZ’s first try, where a camera followed Katelyn Vahaakolo from just beyond the dead-ball line. If she’d been tackled, there could have been serious injury to either player. And again, as PWW scored, a camera was at grass-level far too close to the players, the operator not in a position to retreat quickly.
And why is a camera allowed to come on to the field and poke inside a huddle, World Rugby?
The choice of Ibarra at 10 was a real risk, since she didn’t have security with the boot. A try-line drop-out betrayed her. And her back-line found it impossible breaking down the defensive black wall. More variation in approach would have helped, but the experience and the skill weren’t there.
A pity that the co-commentator, Michaela Brake, only had words of praise for the Ferns, unlike the impressive Rikki Swannell.
USA: their one win over the Ferns was in 1991. NZ needed a bonus-point win plus 25 points to take the trophy. They got them with consummate ease.
The 12 July Laurie O’Reilly Cup game v Oz is NZ’s last outing pre-RWC.
Attendance: The bottom tier of the main stand was well filled.
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