1
England Women rout world champions New Zealand
By PA
England laid down a marker ahead of next year’s World Cup with a comprehensive 43-12 victory over reigning champions New Zealand in Exeter.
A pair of early tries from Abbie Ward set the Red Rose on course for their biggest win against the Black Ferns.
Ellie Kildunne, Lark Davies, debutant Holly Aitchison, Abby Dow and Zoe Harrison were also on the scoresheet for Simon Middleton’s side, who stylishly stretched their winning streak to 15 games.
New Zealand had not played a Test in two years due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
They looked rusty on the occasion of their 100th Test and, having trailed 17-0 at the break, made the scoreline slightly more respectable courtesy of second-half tries from Alana Bremner and Stacey Fluhler.
The match at Sandy Park was the first of two meetings between the world’s top-ranked sides, with a fixture at Northampton’s Franklin’s Gardens to come next week.
Ahead of kick-off there was a minute’s silence for former Maori All Blacks player Sean Wainui, who died earlier this month aged 25.
In front of a crowd of around 10,000, England wasted little time in asserting themselves on the contest as lock Ward twice powered over in the opening 18 minutes.
Kildunne then exploited a gap in New Zealand’s defensive line with some nimble footwork to put the hosts in complete control just before the interval.
Bremner marked her Black Ferns debut by temporarily reducing the deficit early in the second period but was then sin-binned for not releasing as the Six Nations champions wrapped up a resounding win.
Davies, Aitchison and Dow helped move England 36-7 in front and, despite New Zealand’s Fluhler crossing in the corner seven minutes from time, fly-half Harrison – who also kicked four conversions – capitalised on a fine offload from Helena Rowland to have the final say.
Trending on RugbyPass
2
Rassie Erasmus holds the solution to England's Jamie George conundrum
3
The Springboks have something you don't have
4
'I don't think Borthwick picks Willis even if he's playing in England'
5
Latest Comments
"Now we have one of the most competitive football markets in the world and we are the canary in the coalmine in terms of change and dealing with that."
And there lies the rub. We don't care about your problems with Aussie Rules or Rugby League. If you're in the job just to save your union from competition by making our fantastic game more like one-dimensional boring league then all the rest of your promises are just BS. We'll be watching you like hawks to try and keep you in line, but - like Beaumont - you'll probably be able to push through whatever you like and the game will lose once again, but this time potentially terminally. I believe that your selection could be the worst decision WR have ever made.
Go to commentsAnd Scott Robertson not going so well is he.
Not a bad effort but a correction. McKenzie was not born in NSW so is not a Tah. He was born in Victoria. Played for the Brumbies and coached Qld and also played and then later coached NSW, until the self entitled Tah players decided to stab him in the back. And who was the captain of the Tahs at the time leading the back stabbing. Well, well it was none other than Phil Waugh, current Rugby Australia CEO. Who recently tried to deny he had met Suallii at Hamish McLennan's house pre signing, until McLennan outed him recently as a bald faced liar as he was in fact there.
I doubt very much if McKenzie, who was also assistant coach to Eddie Jones in Jones first stint coaching Australia, would appreciate being labelled a Tah, given it was the Tahs Hooper and Beale and Cheika who stabbed him in the back again when he walked away thru lack of support from Hooper and Rugby Australia.
Schmidt might have theoretically better credentials, even tho he dumped Ireland in the brink but he had to start somewhere. You can't argue if you think he is great that Schmidt should never have been given an opportunity.
Schmidt lacks a crucial ingredient. He's not Australian. It does matter, which as a Bokke you would well know.
Go to comments