Black Ferns survive first-half scare to overcome Wallaroos at Women’s Rugby World Cup
Hosts and reigning champions New Zealand came through a huge early scare to beat Australia 41-17 in their opening match in front of a record crowd at Auckland’s Eden Park.
Three quick tries had the Wallaroos dominating the Pool A fixture at 17-0 up inside the first half-hour and it was only when Australia were reduced to 13 players early in the second half that the home side were able to edge ahead.
New Zealand overcome Australia at Women’s Rugby World Cup – as it happened
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Portia Woodman scored a hat-trick and the winger’s fellow Sevens standout Ruby Tui grabbed a late double as the five-time world champions scored seven unanswered tries to seal a comfortable win.
“It was definitely a game of two halves,” said the New Zealand captain, Ruahei Demant. “Australia really put us under the pump there right from the start. I’m proud of how we closed off that first half and the way that we finished that game.”
Australia, who had never beaten the Black Ferns in 22 previous attempts, started as if determined to spoil New Zealand’s party with the winger Bienne Terita crossing twice in the right corner after running around the home defence.
In between Terita’s tries, her fellow winger, Ivania Wong, picked up a loose pass and raced 60 metres to score to silence the crowd of more than 35,000.
The lock Joanah Ngan-Woo finally put the Black Ferns on the board with a bulldozing run just after the half-hour mark and two tries from Woodman in 11 minutes either side of the break tied the scores at 17-17.
The match turned decisively in the 53rd minute, when Wong and the Australia captain, Shannon Parry, were shown yellow cards within a few seconds of each other. Before the two Australians returned, the replacement prop, Awhina Tangen-Wainohu, had forced her way over the line to secure New Zealand a bonus point and Woodman bagged her third try.
Tui’s late show with two classic winger’s finishes was more what New Zealand fans had expected as the Black Ferns embark on the defence of their title.
The crowd for the triple-header was a record for a women’s World Cup match and for a standalone women’s sporting fixture in New Zealand.