The Black Ferns built a three-point lead in the World Cup final by taking a series of bold but calculated risks. They saved their biggest for the final seconds.
England were threatening to score their fifth maul try of the match and snatch the trophy from their hosts’ grasp, campedin the corner after the hooter had sounded at Eden Park.
Up in the coaches’ box, while the Red Roses prepared the lineout feed, Wayne Smith could have been forgiven for watching through his fingers. Instead, the man known as the Professor imparted one final piece of guidance.
”We took a risk on that last lineout,” Smith said later, the World Cup gleaming in front of him. “The message was sent down: get somebody up. And that someone was Joanah Ngan-Woo, who’s a phenomenal athlete, good under pressure, and she did the business.”
She did indeed. While committing to the air could have severely hampered their maul defence, the substitute lock rose high and disrupted the English throw, earning a lineout steal that saw the Black Ferns seal their sixth World Cup crown.
”We had a strategy probably for six months - don’t give them any lineouts and don’t give them any penalties,” Smith said with a chuckle. “That didn’t work.”
England were supreme at the set piece throughout the match, with New Zealand-born hooker Amy Cokayne scoring a hat-trick from the maul and Marlie Packer finishing one unstoppable drive that started on the edge of the 22.
The final moments seemed certain to follow that trend, and England coach Simon Middleton was understandably confident. Asked what was going through his mind with the World Cup on the line, Middleton smiled.
”I thought, someone’s going to have a really good 30 seconds,” he said. “I backed us to have it, but we didn’t. And that’s testimony to them - they were great, they went up and they challenged.
”Sometimes things are written in the stars, and I think it has been for the Black Ferns at this tournament.”
Theresa Fitzpatrick and Chelsea Bremner celebrate winning the final. Photo / Photosport
That feeling was shared by New Zealand skipper Ruahei Demant, who throughout the final led her side with the type of control she had exerted all tournament.
Trailing for much of proceedings, Demant and her teammates never panicked. They simply backed their natural talent, executed with some stunning tries and eventually overhauled England to end their 30-match winning run.
”We knew their lineout drive was killing us, so we tried to keep the ball in and not concede any penalties,” she said. “It took 80 minutes.
”It’s funny, even though we were down for most of the game, I never felt like we were going to lose. I don’t say that based on the opposition - I say it based on the calmness that our 15 players out on the field showed.”
Smith at that point interjected and revealed, after a career spent in such high-pressure moments, he wasn’t quite as calm as his captain.
”I wish you’d sent that message up to us in the coaching box,” he joked.
