Black Ferns forward Alana Bremner and the pack battle against the South Africans in their Rugby World Cup quarter-final. Photo / SmartFrame
Adam Julian for LockerRoom
The Black Ferns are one game away from a Women’s Rugby World Cup final, facing tough nuts Canada in the semifinals this Saturday morning.
Their 46-17 victory in their quarter-final against a fierce and unorthodox South Africa relied on four tries in the first 15 minutes of the second half to extinguish a courageous inaugural finals effort from their opponents.
It’s unlikely the Black Ferns have ever faced a team employing 15-women rolling mauls, a seven-to-one forward split on the bench, and a risk-averse, compact, brutal attack that rarely sent the ball beyond the second five-eighths position.
South Africa’s strategy was remarkably effective for the first 40 minutes. The Black Ferns made 141 out of 157 first-half tackles and conceded eight penalties. When tighthead prop Babalwa Latsha muscled over from close range in the 20th minute, the tackle count against the Black Ferns stood at an astonishing 95-3. Black Ferns tighthead Veisinia Mahutariki-Fakalelu had already made 20 out of her 25 match tackles.
Black Ferns first five-eighths and co-captain Ruahei Demant admitted she had never encountered anything like an all-in rolling maul, which even included the halfback being hoisted.
“If I go into the lineout, what do I even do?” Demant laughed.
“South Africa were very good and accurate in the lineouts and their forward-phase play. Finding a solution to that, as a back, was tough.”
Tackling stoutly is one way to suppress momentum and the Black Ferns had 11 players make 10 or more tackles; even winger Portia Woodman-Wickliffe made nine. Demant was proud of the “care” the Black Ferns’ defence showed in contrast to the sieve that leaked 49 points against England in Vancouver the previous year.
“Care in defence is something we’ve talked about a lot. Making tackles, getting back up off the ground, and getting into a better position are essential. The girls who miss out on selection play a crucial role in raising those standards. In training, we have intense sessions that create a lot of competition.
“Still, we received a bit of a rark-up in the sheds, especially us backs – our accuracy wasn’t good enough, and it didn’t meet the standards that the jersey demands.”
Black Ferns director of rugby Alan Bunting said: “We just needed to hold on to the ball for a bit, build some phases and get our game going. We didn’t get our game going at all in the first half.”
The Black Ferns caught South Africa off guard at the kickoff in the second half. Demant chipped the ball to the 10m mark, allowing Stacey Waaka to seize possession and Renee Holmes capitalised on fast handling.
The Black Ferns found their rhythm, with the dynamic trio of Woodman-Wickliffe, Jorja Miller and Ayesha Leti-I’iga combining effectively to assist Braxton Sorensen-McGee in scoring her eighth try of the Rugby World Cup.
South Africa’s limitations were most evident during the Black Ferns’ seventh try, where seven players handled the ball from one touchline to the other. Holmes capped off this sumptuous move, even leaving Sorensen-McGee unmarked and unneeded.
This opportunity for expansion arose from an Alana Bremner lineout poach. The Canterbury lock, in her 33rd test, was in the coalface of the forward exchanges, making 20 tackles and securing four lineout catches. Her locking partner, Maia Ross, was also effective, contributing 15 tackles, two turnovers and four lineout catches.
Waaka was superb in her 30th test and, after taking a battering during the match, she said: “My nose is just about intact. I don’t look my best but it’s all good. It’s part of rugby, isn’t it? It is what it is. I haven’t tackled that many forwards in my life.”
South Africa deserve credit for their brazen approach. Captain and powerhouse No 8 Aseza Hele said: “It was very tough, but we gave them a taste of South Africa. They are champions. They had the pressure; we didn’t have the pressure. We made sure they knew that we wanted to be here… We told ourselves to leave everything on the field, and we did. We emptied our tank.”
England will play France in the other semifinal on Sunday morning (NZT). England beat Scotland 40-8 and France edged Ireland 18-13, with Canada having joined NZ in the Saturday morning match by defeating Australia 46-5.
When Kaipo Olsen-Baker was stretchered off the field with a suspected ankle fracture against Spain in York on August 24 it seemed her Rugby World Cup campaign was over.
Far from it.
The bulldozing No 8 was named Player of the Match against South Africa, scoring two tries and making seven carries for a total gain of 57m. Even more impressive was her tackle count of 26.
This spectacular display came from a player who had previously missed the 2022 Rugby World Cup because of a foot injury that sidelined her for over a year.
Her fearless approach was best captured in an on-field interview after the match. When asked how the Black Ferns intended to tame South Africa at halftime, she confidently said: “Just AFD, which means all effing day.”
She is Black Fern No 233, has played 14 tests for 10 wins and scored seven tries.
Olsen-Baker comes from tough stock. Her family hails from Rangitukia, north of Tikitiki on the East Coast, before living in Gisborne, where she attended Gisborne Girls’ High School.
Her upbringing was not without adversity. Her father Jason died when she was 1. Her mother Gabrielle later lost another partner and is partially paralysed on the left side of her body.
Sport became an important outlet for Olsen-Baker. She played football with fellow Black Ferns Renee Holmes and Kelsey Teneti and was introduced to rugby by former Black Fern Trish Hina. However, it was in basketball that she initially made the biggest strides, earning a trial with the New Zealand Tall Ferns as a 15-year-old.
“I was a point guard. I started at the YMCA gym, where the games felt like street fights, just like everything else in Gisborne,” Olsen-Baker recalled with a laugh.
“The only guy who didn’t get any bruises was Ben O’Brien Leaf. He was a referee, writer and commentator, and he would sit there with his little cousin, eating KFC and encouraging us.
“When I didn’t make the New Zealand team, I quit basketball. The trial was a big deal and I was immature. I was really upset because I wasn’t used to disappointment.”
When a friend decided to try for a place at Manakura, an elite Māori sporting school in Palmerston North, Olsen-Baker decided to follow her. To her complete surprise, she was accepted. From there, her rugby career blossomed and she began playing for the Manawatū Cyclones in the Farah Palmer Cup (FPC) while still in school.
Olsen-Baker made her memorable test debut against Australia in Tauranga in 2022. In a tight contest played in torrential rain, she scored a 20m runaway try to help break a 10-10 stalemate. She also had another strong showing in a 28-0 whitewash against Canada, but then injury struck.
“No one has ever seen me cry before, so when they saw me, people thought, ‘Oh my God, it must be bad’. It took me months of rehab to get it right.”
By 2023, Olsen-Baker was back and better than ever. She was nominated for FPC Player of the Year and topped the FPC charts for most carries (113), most defenders beaten (69) and most offloads (26).
In 2024, she shifted from the Hurricanes Poua to Matatū for Super Rugby Aupiki, ranking in the top 10 for carries (59), metres gained (286) and offloads (9).
In an inconsistent Black Ferns, Olsen-Baker was outstanding, winning the Player of the Year Award. Since the inception of this annual prize in 1994, the only other loose forwards to have won it are Rochelle Martin, Sarah Hirini, Charmaine McMenamin, Kennedy Simon and Liana Mikaele Tu’u.
During the 2023 Rugby World Cup for men, a staggering 2.5 million litres, or about five million pints, of beer were sold throughout the 48 games.
An unusual September heatwave even led to a record of alcohol consumption being established in Marseille. A remarkable 90,000 cups of beer were sold during the South Africa-Scotland match, surpassing the previous record of 50,000 set during a match in the French Top 14.
The demand for drinks was so great that Daniel Schofield from the Telegraph complained: “For nearly every match, there have been accounts of beer selling out, or the queues being so long that fans simply gave up. Insiders say that French stadia do not have the infrastructure – such as pumps, kegs and refrigeration – needed to cope with the demand, almost as if rugby fans’ penchant for more than one pint has come as a sudden surprise.”
Now, the Women’s Rugby World Cup is facing a similar challenge. During England’s 47-7 victory over Australia in front of 30,443 spectators in Brighton last Saturday, the beer supply ran out. An emergency meeting with Asahi, the official tournament beer supplier, was held to address the situation before the following day’s match, where 30,017 spectators watched the Black Ferns crush Ireland 40-0.
Interestingly, while the All Blacks have partnered Steinlager since 1986, women’s rugby has been more cautious about alcohol branding. In 2022, the Blues, Hurricanes and Matatū franchises decided to refuse alcohol sponsorships and instead partnered Te Hiringa Hauora, showcasing health-related branding on their uniforms and promoting wellbeing messages in signs and digital media.
That said, Kiwi women in rugby haven’t shied away from a drink in the past. In the 1990s, Sunday matches hosted by one club in the Bay of Plenty were notorious for their rowdiness.
The Auckland premier club rugby trophy was named after publican Chris Coleman in the 1990s. He was a significant sponsor and supporter of women’s rugby in that decade. Coleman later served on the Auckland Rugby Board and persuaded Eden Park officials to host women’s matches as curtain-raisers before men’s games. He owned a 24-hour bar on Fort St.
Coleman recounted to Rugby News in December 2023: “I loved rugby. I’d never missed an All Blacks test in my entire life, but I’d never heard of women’s rugby. So I thought I’d better go and watch a game. I was immediately converted. The way they played, their skill level, was astonishing. I then gave a grant to Black Fern Regina Sheck and afterwards, we were approached by virtually every club in Auckland with a women’s team, and we provided funds to them all.”
This story was originally published at Newsroom.co.nz and is republished with permission.