Rugby: How Black Ferns are dealing with pressure of home World Cup

The Black Ferns begin their World Cup defence this weekend. Photo / Photosport

Heading into their first World Cup on home soil, the Black Ferns are taking the pressure in context.

For many in the team, a home tournament is something they might not have thought would happen in their careers as there has never been a women's rugby world cup played in the southern hemisphere. Couple in the massive turnout expected for the opening day of the tournament on Saturday, there is plenty of anticipation among the Black Ferns group.

Speaking ahead of Saturday's test against Australia, assistant coach Whitney Hansen said there were different brands of pressure the side had to deal with leading into the tournament, and one outweighed the rest.

"The pressure you have internally is generally always greater than the pressure you'll feel from anything else," Hansen said.

"I certainly think that's how we operate in this team; we've got a job to do. The pressure we carry internally, what we carry, and the desire to do that will be greater than anything else that gets put on us externally.

"There's a lot of emotion going around. Talking to some of the girls, I think there are some feelings people don't know how to feel. There's definitely a bit of excitement in there; there's probably a bit of the unknown, but mostly I think the feeling is readiness. It's been a long time coming, so we're excited to play."

The Black Ferns begin their World Cup defence this weekend. Photo / Photosport

The Black Ferns have had the benefit of preparing as a group in Auckland over the past few weeks, with a test against Japan adding to the build-up. The period has given the squad plenty of time to become familiar with one another, as some players have had little time in the Black Ferns environment this season.

Among those were several athletes who were going into their first world cup in any code., as well as players from the Black Ferns Sevens camp who played in the world cup in that code in South Africa last month.

"When they're in here, they're just 15s players. They prefer not to be called (Sevens players), so we don't do that in here. We're one big crew," Hansen said.

"There's a real range of experience within the group with who we've got, and we'd be silly not to leverage off people who have been in the Olympics and been in those high-pressure moments. We'll find ways to do that, and they certainly are in the way they connect with each other."

The Black Ferns open their campaign on Saturday night against Australia at Eden Park in the final triple-header, featuring France against South Africa and England against Fiji in the earlier matches.