Black Ferns v South Africa: Injured duo return for Allan Bunting’s side in World Cup quarter-final

The Black Ferns will meet South Africa in their Rugby World Cup quarter-final on Sunday morning. Photo / Smartframe

The Black Ferns quarter-final against South Africa could well be a tale of two tactics.

The Springboks Women signalled their intentions for their first appearance in the knockout stages of a World Cup when announcing their team; head coach Swys de Bruin naming a 7-1 forwards-backs split on the bench.

“That’s their DNA, right? They want to go through us,” Black Ferns director of performance Allan Bunting said of his counterparts.

“They’ve got some speed out wide too and they’ve got halfback that likes to speed up things. We haven’t played them, but we’ve watched them quite closely.

“It’s pretty obvious what they’re wanting to do this week, but we’ve got a plan on what we want to do too and we’re up for the challenge.”

For the Black Ferns, fast, free-flowing footy has been the side’s calling card over the past few years. That has again been a feature of their World Cup, with three bonus-point wins seeing them finish the pool stages at the top of their group.

Through three tests so far, the Black Ferns have scored 156 points and conceded just 27, with an average winning margin of 43 points. South Africa enter the quarter-finals having finished second in their pool with wins over Italy and Brazil before a 47-point loss to France.

The two sides have only met one other time, when the Black Ferns claimed a 55-3 win in 2010.

The Black Ferns come into the contest off the back of an impressive 40-0 win over Ireland and boosted by the return of Kaipo Olsen-Baker (No 8) and Amy du Plessis (midfield cover) after they were injured in their opening game of the tournament.

They will, however, be without impressive midfielder Logo-I-Pulotu Lemapu-Atai’i Sylvia Brunt who was unavailable due to a head knock.

Brunt will be replaced in the midfield by Theresa Setefano. Other changes see Veisinia Mahutariki-Fakalelu start at tighthead prop, while at halfback, Maia Joseph gets the start with Iritana Hohaia joining the bench.

Olsen-Baker’s start at No 8 has seen another reshuffle of the loose forwards, with Liana Mikaele-Tu’u shifting to blindside flanker.

On the bench, Atlanta Lolohea will provide cover at hooker, with Awhina Tangen-Wainohu providing cover at loosehead prop, and du Plessis and Hohaia also joining the 23.

Loose forward Layla Sae, props Amy Rule and Tanya Kalounivale, halfback Risaleaana Pouri-Lane and hooker Vici-Rose Green were those to make way for the changes.

“We were proud of our performance last week, but there’s areas across the field that we want to improve on and we want to build on,” Bunting said.

“We certainly want to get better and we know what’s coming this weekend too. It’s a final for us. We weren’t here to just beat Ireland. We’re here on a mission and this week is really important for us.”

Black Ferns: 1. Chryss Viliko, 2. Georgia Ponsonby, 3. Veisinia Mahutariki-Fakalelu, 4. Maiakawanakaulani Roos, 5. Alana Bremner, 6. Liana Mikaele-Tu’u, 7. Jorja Miller, 8. Kaipo Olsen-Baker, 9. Maia Joseph, 10. Ruahei Demant (cc), 11. Portia Woodman-Wickliffe, 12. Theresa Setefano, 13. Stacey Waaka, 14. Braxton Sorensen-McGee, 15. Renee Holmes.

Bench: 16. Atlanta Lolohea, 17. Awhina Tangen-Wainohu, 18. Kate Henwood, 19. Laura Bayfield, 20. Kennedy Tukuafu (cc), 21. Iritana Hohaia 22. Amy du Plessis, 23. Ayesha Leti-I’iga.

Christopher Reive joined the Herald sports team in 2017, bringing the same versatility to his coverage as he does to his sports viewing habits.