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Devastating scoreline registered as Black Ferns obliterate the Wallaroos
By AAP
The Wallaroos have been no match for world champions New Zealand, crashing to a 50-0 loss to open their Pacific Four rugby campaign.
Former elite netballer Mererangi Paul bagged a double on debut while teenage centre Syliva Brunt also crossed twice for the Kiwis at Brisbane's Kayo Stadium on Thursday night.
The tournament also involves Canada and the USA, who the Wallaroos face next with two games in Ottawa.
They could be without exciting young fullback Faitala Moleka, with the 18-year-old suffering a leg injury while attempting to stop Alana Bremner's try.
The Black Ferns kept the Australians on the back foot with some physical defence while they showed silky skills in attack to end home hopes of a breakthrough win over the trans-Tasman rivals.
New Zealand have now won 24 straight against Australia, continuing to ride high under new coach Allan Bunting who took over after their home World Cup triumph last October.
Five-eighth Carys Dallinger, playing her first Test against her country of birth, struggled to make an impact with the Wallaroos' flat attack easily picked off by their opponents.
The game was effectively over by halftime, with the visitors leading 26-0 and making ground at will through the middle and dominating the ruck.
Brunt, 19, showed her footwork to dot down in the 23rd minute, and then again 10 minutes later.
Prop Tanya Kalounivale opened the scoring when she charged over off a set move from a line-out while debutante Paul scored either side of halftime, the winger chipping ahead to score her first Test try.
The 24-year-old played netball with the Northern Mystics in New Zealand's ANZ Premiership before taking up Sevens rugby in 2022 and then 15-a-side last year.
Arabella McKenzie replaced Queensland playmaker Dallinger early in the second half and straightened the attack.
But the Black Ferns were relentless at the breakdown and kept the pressure on the brave Wallaroos, adding four tries before th e final whistle.
New Zealand co-captain Ruahei Demant praised the work of the six debutantes.
"There's definitely been a change of personnel and myself, the girls and the coaches are proud of our debutantes to night," the five-eighth said.
"We have changed some players but haven't changed the Black Ferns style that we want to play."
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There is nothing particularly significant about Ireland in this regard compared to other Tier 1 nations. To look at 'strategy' for illegal play its best to see what teams push boundaries with new laws. SA have milked two tries at ruck block downs. The strategy is to charge the first few before the ball is out at about 4 seconds but pull out and put up hands in reigned apology. The referees usually allow the scum half to clear without awarding a penalty in this scenario. The problem with that being that the scrumhalf is now taking over 5 seconds through no fault of his own. Having achieved a few slow balls > 5s , the SA forward can now pick a scrum to charge dead on 5s. Now if the scrum half waits, he will concede a penalty, as we saw against Scotland. With the new rule in place, any early charge should result in an immediate penalty.
SA also got an offside block against England which was pivotal again after a couple of 'apologetic' offside aborted charges forcing England to clear slowly.
Go to commentsYep, you're not the sharpest tool in the shed are you?
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