Women’s Rugby World Cup: Black Ferns halfback Maia Joseph ruled out of Spain test

The Black Ferns have been forced to make a late change ahead of their Rugby World Cup opener against Spain, with halfback Maia Joseph ruled out due to injury.

Joseph had come into the tournament in England with a hamstring injury and was expected to be ready to go for Monday morning (NZT). However, the 23-year-old again suffered a hamstring injury during a training session late in the week and was scratched from the squad. The team did not confirm if her existing injury was reaggravated or if it was a new setback.

Iritana Hohaia has been brought into the match-day squad. Hohaia, the most experienced of the three halfbacks in the Black Ferns’ World Cup squad, will start in the No 9 jersey, with Risaleaana Pouri-Lane remaining on the bench.

The Black Ferns will look to set the tone for their tournament when they run out at York Community Stadium on Monday to begin their World Cup defence.

They come into the tournament as the world No 3, behind Canada and England who have both made strong starts to the event.

England opened the tournament with a clash against USA, putting them to the sword with a 69-7 win. Canada followed suit this morning with a 65-7 win over Fiji in a match where fullback Julia Schell scored six tries in a 22-minute stretch in the second half.

It’s a new-look Black Ferns side, with 11 changes from the team that beat the Wallaroos in Wellington last month.

“It’s an opportunity for our players to go out there. All 32 of our players, we’ve picked them because we believe they can be in a World Cup final. This is the first opportunity for this 23 ... it’s their opportunity to really stamp their mark,” Black Ferns director of performance Allan Bunting said.

Black Ferns team to play Spain

Black Ferns: 1. Awhina Tangen-Wainohu, 2. Vici-Rose Green, 3. Amy Rule, 4. Alana Bremner (cc), 5. Chelsea Bremner, 6. Layla Sae, 7. Jorja Miller 8. Liana Mikaele-Tu’u, 9. Iritana Hohaia, 10. Kelly Brazier, 11. Ayesha Leti-I’iga, 12. Theresa Setefano, 13. Amy du Plessis, 14. Braxton Sorensen-McGee, 15. Renee Holmes.

Bench: 16. Georgia Ponsonby, 17. Chryss Viliko, 18. Tanya Kalounivale, 19. Laura Bayfield, 20. Kaipo Olsen-Baker, 21. Risaleaana Pouri-Lane, 22. Ruahei Demant (cc), 23. Portia Woodman-Wickliffe.

Scores from the opening games of the World Cup

Pool A: England beat USA 69-7; Australia beat Samoa 73-0.

Pool B: Scotland beat Wales 38-8; Canada beat Fiji 65-7.

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