Canada outplayed New Zealand for the third time in three games to earn their first entry to a final since 2014.
Their all-round excellence in attack and defence was on show again in front of a packed house in Bristol.
Inside ten minutes they had posted two tries. Renee Holmes made the first several errors when she kicked the ball straight out. From there Taylor Perry lofted a left-foot kick; Alex Tessier claimed it and Justine Pelletier went over.
Next Perry exploited a clean line-out (one of many) to send a long pass to Asia Hogan-Rochester on the left. Holmes had been drawn too far infield and couldn’t stop her.
The Kiwis’ first advance looked dangerous but Ruahei Demant knocked on; this was to be a feature of the evening. Raids that in the past led to inevitable scores here came to nothing. Kaipo Olsen-Baker made a threatening break; the outcome was the same.
Canada had their third try after a series of powerful drives at the line. The ball spread right, Tessier got a great pass away under pressure and Flo Symonds went over.
Before the game ran right out of control, the Ferns countered strongly. Tanya Kalounivale forced her way over to renew hope.
Now Pelletier showed her great vision: unafraid of mixing it with far larger opponents, she sniped and gave a cunning reverse to Sophie de Goede who ran under the posts undisturbed.
Half-time: Canada 24 New Zealand 7
Whatever advice Allan Bunting offered inside had little effect.
Almost at once DaLeaka Menin snatched the ball from Kiwi hands, and the Canadians were back on attack. They displayed every known rugby skill, off-loads, lighting quick recycles, dummies and links, for Tessier to add another try. (31-7)
It was now or never for the Ferns. They threw everything into attack, but it took a lot to break the defences down. Even when the ball passed at pace from Stacey Waaka to Portia Woodman-Wickliffe then Braxton Sorensen-McGee, Canadians hauled them down or forced them into touch.
It needed 61 minutes for Aimee Barrett-Theron to penalise the Canadians – as good a recipe for success as any.
Using numbers alone, we can claim the Kiwis had the best of the second half.
They closed the margin to 31-19 (tries to Liana Mikaele-Tu’u and BSM, but time was running out. They had plenty of possession but desperation is the enemy of accuracy.
When de Goede was offered a penalty in front, she used up every second before knocking the ball over.
The Ferns went all out on attack right until the 82nd minute. Then came the umpteenth knock-on, and Tessier hoofed the ball into the stand.
Tears of joy here; tears of despair there. The hardest of the hard, the 38-year-old Karen Paquin, was the weepiest of all. Her return to the game had proved worthwhile. Her nearest equivalent, Portia Woodman-Wickliffe, experienced the opposite emotions.
Result: Canada 34 New Zealand 19
Player of the Match: Justine Pelletier
Referee: Aimee Barrett-Theron (SARU)
Attendance: 24,592
Teams
Canada: 1 HUNT 2 TUTTOSI 3 MENIN 4 DE GOEDE 5 O’DONNELL 6 CROSSLEY 7 PAQUIN 8 FORTEZA 9 PELLETIER 10 PERRY 11 HOGAN-ROCHESTER 12 TESSIER 13 SYMONDS 14 CORRIGAN 15 SCHELL
16 BOAG 17 KASSIL 18 DEMERCHANT 19 BEUKEBOOM 20 ROYER 21 SENFT 22 APPS 23 SEUMANUTAFA
New Zealand: 1 VILIKO 2 PONSONBY 3 KALOUNIVALE 4 ROOS 5 A. BREMNER 6 MIKAELE TU’U 7 TUKUAFU 8 OLSEN-BAKER 9 POURI-LANE 10 DEMANT 11 WOODMAN-WICKLIFFE 12 BRUNT 13 WAAKA 14 SORENSEN-MCGEE 15 HOLMES
16 LOLOHEA 17 HENWOOD 18 RULE 19 C. BREMNER 20 SA’E 21 JOSEPH 22 SETEFANO 23 LETI-I’IGA
Afterthoughts
New Zealand lost their first RWC knock-out match since 2001.
They can still claim England have never beaten them at an RWC.
England can claim the Black Ferns have never beaten them at Twickenham.
This was one of the great matches. We can only hope the second semi comes close to it.
