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‘I’m gonna die’: Black Fern on why she couldn’t ‘let go’ during World Cup final
By Finn Morton
With time up on the game clock during last year’s Rugby World Cup final at Eden Park, the Black Ferns braced themselves for once last roll of the dice from the Red Roses.
England entered the World Cup decider on the back of a 30-Test unbeaten run, and were heavily favoured to hoist the trophy on that now-famous Saturday evening last November.
The Red Roses raced out to an early lead, but a red card to wing Lydia Thompson changed the course of history. New Zealand were valiant in the face of adversity, and ended up taking control.
But England’s rampaging rolling maul more than made up for their one-player disadvantage, with hooker Amy Cokayne crossing for a hat-trick of tries. The Black Ferns had no answers.
England only trailed by three points by the time the full-time siren sounded, but they were widely tipped to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. They set up for one last lineout, five metres out from New Zealand’s try line.
The crowd let out a cheer as time expired on the clock, but England and New Zealand had a job to do. History beckoned as replacement Lark Davies prepared to throw the ball into the lineout.
But World Cup hero Joanah Ngan-Woo did just enough to tip the ball back against the throw, and it fell to prop Krystal Murray. The Black Fern was holding the World Cup, and just needed to hang on.
“I could hear (Sarah Hirini) Gossy saying, ‘Don’t let go Muzz, don’t let go.’ But I couldn’t breathe,” Murray said on NZR+ docuseries Black Ferns: A Redemption. “I wasn’t going to let go.
“I was thinking, ‘Okay, I think this is the way I’m going to go.’ In a World Cup final, I’m gonna die like this.”
Scottish referee Hollie Davidson ended up pulling the play up for an England knock-on, and for a moment, New Zealand stood still.
Referee Davidson brought an end to the enthralling decider with three blows of the whistle, and the Black Ferns burst out into a frenzy. It was party time in Aotearoa.
“Our captains Ruahei (Demant) and Kennedy (Simon) were absolutely phenomenal leaders,” fullback Renee Holmes said. “The way they were able to bring the girls together was incredible.
“I’ve never been a part of a team that was so selfless and put each other first and put the team first and put our goal first.”
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Latest Comments
There are very few NH people here and very few of them complain about refs so what you are saying there is not true. You can see that over the weekend a narrative has arisen where many SH folk are maintaining that Argentina were robbed in Dublin and that NZ were robbed in France. It's utter nonsense.
I am not saying England were robbed. I am saying that 10 times out of 10 a penalty for cynically bringing down a maul in your own 22 is yellow. Brace mentioned the existing yellow and only awarded a penalty. That was unfair on England.
Go to commentsMy takeaway from the game was that Ireland are a team in decline.
It's a very old squad, and you wonder how long the likes of JGP, Lowe, Aki, Murray, Henshaw, Ringrose, Healy - all players in their early to mid 30's will be able to continue to perform.
When you have a 35-year-old in Murray replacing JGP for the AB game is very telling and that a 37 Cian Healy is still playing at this level, which means as he only plays limited minutes running down World Class talent Porter into the ground.
That Argentina was able to chase Ireland down and be in a position to draw or win in the last play of the game was telling. A couple of years ago, Argentina would have been blown off the park but now...
So yip, I think by the 2027 WC Ireland will very much have fallen back into the pack - will still have a great pack but will not be among the favourites for the WC.
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