A glorious swansong for the Black Ferns

By MONIQUE DEVEREUX

The Spanish heat was almost unbearable.

In their black jerseys, thick socks and tightly strapped-on boots, the Black Ferns sweated their way around Barcelona's Olympic Stadium in the final of the women's Rugby World Cup.

On one side of the huge stadium that seats 67,000, a pocket of 1000 New Zealand supporters waved flags, clapped hands and stamped their feet.

Their cries, and those of the 9000 other spectators (including the opposing English supporters), echoed around the grounds and were almost lost in the emptiness.

But when the final whistle blew, the blood, sweat and tears of the tournament were forgotten.

The final score: New Zealand 19, England 9.

The team and their supporters went crazy. The cup was lifted high in the air in jubilation. The champagne flowed.

For some of the team, the game on Sunday was be the last time they will wear the black jersey. They are retiring from rugby at the end of this season.

It was also the last World Cup tournament for coach Darryl Suasua.

Suasua described the moment the final whistle blew as unbelievable.

"It was undoubtedly the most amazing thing, walking off after beating England. The girls worked so hard for this, and the support from the families was pretty inspirational."

He said the heat (more than 30C) took an effort to deal with, made much more bearable by the special cooling jerseys developed for the Black Ferns by adidas. "It was much better to be wearing the jersey than even to be just wearing a T-shirt, even sitting in the shade - that's how effective they were," Suasua said.

The coach said he knew the girls had "the right stuff to get there" at half time, despite the score of 11-9.

"But it really was an unbelievable feeling, the whistle blowing.

"For me, it was just a fantastic moment to go out on."