Rugby World Cup: Coach Wayne Smith spots major Black Ferns flaw after win over Wales

Coach Wayne Smith with Kendra Reynolds after the win over Wales. Photo / photosport.nz

Black Ferns coach Wayne Smith has stressed his disappointment at a lopsided penalty count in his side's 56-12 World Cup win over Wales, noting they are "not going to win this thing" without tidying their discipline.

The Black Ferns were on the wrong side of a 17-8 penalty count in the win, allowing Wales to work their way out of pressure and apply some of their own on the Black Ferns.

When asked about that area of the contest following the match, Smith couldn't help but shake his head.

"It was really disappointing, and a lot of them are avoidable," Smith said.

"It really annoys me when I see it. You do so much work during the week on staying up, hitting low, then you go out and do that. We're not going to win this thing unless we get better in a lot of areas.

"A lot of them were just stupid, avoidable penalties."

While the Ferns claimed a healthy win and made good use of the ball – running for almost 800m while Portia Woodman's 137m topped Wales' 127m – issues with their discipline and handling started early.

It was a familiar tale, as similar issues hampered the Ferns early in their opening round win over Australia a week ago.

Smith said while some of the early miscues against Wales might have come down to trying to do too much too soon, such is the style of the game they play, the frequency at which they occurred was alarming.

"At least we were more physical, but we just give away too many dumb penalties which leads to too much possession, then we're always battling to get it back. We've got to put an end to that."

The Black Ferns spent plenty of time on defence deep in their own territory, with Wales' two tries both coming from lineout drives as a result of penalties. However, some stoic defence meant Wales were unable to make the most of playing the majority of the game in Black Ferns territory.

But while there were plenty of things for the Ferns to address, the performance had bright spots.

With the win, they secured their place in the quarter-finals, with another bonus point putting them closer to claiming the top seed for the knockout stages. First five-eighth Ruahei Demant had arguably her best performance in a Black Ferns jersey, while Smith said locking duo Chelsea Bremner and Maiakawanakaulani Roos "should both be singled out for a mention" for their performances.

As a team, showing a willingness to attack on every possession was a step in the right direction leading into their final pool match against Scotland on Saturday, as they look to stamp their brand of rugby firmly on the world stage.

"I loved the attacking intent, aligned to our defence. That was pretty special. It was way better this week. We put a lot of effort into it this week; much faster, the tackle intensity was better and our counter-attack off the back of that was pretty special," Smith said.

"We can't play like the other teams. There's no point in us trying to play like England or even France. It's not our style, it's not in our DNA. They tried it last year on the end of year tour and, whilst there were a lot of factors in that, there's a huge gap in that area. So, we'll just keep playing."