“I think what’s exciting is that we’ve been able to celebrate a lot of milestones. We’ve been able to celebrate debuts, we’ve come out mostly injury free and this was all before the start of our domestic competition, so I think [there will be] a fair few headaches for a lot of our coaches as we lead into a very exciting Super Rugby Aupiki.”
The win saw the Black Ferns go undefeated in the series for the first time since 2023, with a loss and a draw against Canada in 2024 and 2025 respectively.
In at times torrential rain, the Black Ferns saw off a spirited effort from the hosts in a game littered with handling errors from both sides.
After Canada’s 50-12 win over the United States earlier in the day, the Black Ferns went into Saturday night’s contest with a decent grip on the Pacific Four Series title; a losing bonus point or a loss of fewer than 15 points would have been enough for them to retain the trophy.
But the New Zealand side showed their intent from the outset in the first meeting between the two sides on Anzac Day, testing the Australians with an attack that lasted 18 phases before Laura Bayfield, who serves part-time in the Army, was held up over the line.
It wasn’t long before the Black Ferns did open the scoring, however, with Amy du Plessis crossing within the first five minutes of the contest.
The Wallaroos started the game well despite falling behind early. The hosts showed some enterprising play out wide and made the most of discipline issues from the visitors through the opening 20 minutes.
The Wallaroos scored the game’s second try from an attacking lineout, with No 8 Siokapesi Palu closing the gap to just two points.
However, when the Black Ferns were able to get in position to spread the ball and attack a broken Australian defensive line, they had plenty of success.
Having watched a heap of tries being scored on the right wing earlier in the series, left wing Ayesha Leti-I’iga opened her account after a lovely kick in behind the defence from Demant. It was just a matter of which Black Fern would score as Leti-I’iga and fullback Renee Holmes made a play for it, but it was the former getting the points.
Leti-I’iga soon had a double, after some broken play fell kindly to the Black Ferns; Demant swinging a ball wide to the winger, who passed to du Plessis; the midfielder then laying the ball back inside to Leti-I’iga.
Going into the break with a 21-5 lead, the Black Ferns extended that almost immediately when replacement prop Veisinia Mahutariki-Fakalelu scored within moments of the restart.
While execution was lacking from both sides as the rain came down, the Black Ferns adapted the better of the two and, after tries to right-wing Justine McGregor and Bayfield, they built a handy lead.
The Australians continued to ask questions of the visitors, but the Black Ferns defended well to end their series with a solid win.
Black Ferns 40 (Ayesha Leti-I’iga 2, Amy du Plessis, Veisinia Mahutariki-Fakalelu, Justine McGregor, Laura Bayfield tries; Renee Holmes 5 cons)
Wallaroos 5 (Siokapesi Palu try)
HT: 21-5
