Ferns overcome frailties

It took a while, but the world champion Black Ferns finally turned it on in the second half to overcome the Australian Wallaroos 21-10 in last night's first women's rugby test at Wanganui's Cooks Gardens.
The Ferns, including seven newcomers in the 22, outscored the Wallaroos three tries to one, with debutant Otago wing Carla Hopeha showing blistering pace out wide to cross twice, once in each half.
But it took the Ferns three-quarters of the match to get on top, following a shaky first half that saw them guilty of kicking away too much possession and not protecting the ball.
Coach Dale Atkins said the Wallaroos had stepped up "three or four notches" on their effort against a central region side in Palmerston North on Saturday, and they had made New Zealand work hard for the win.
"It was interesting because Australia turned the ball over and they used it, whereas I think we panicked a bit in that first half," he said.
"We've got to use our turnover ball a lot better and get our backs into the game."
The Ferns turned the ball over 32 times during the match. "What we need to do is work on holding onto the ball and building pressure on the opposition," Atkins said. "We didn't do that today."
The Australian forwards had a slight edge in the set pieces in the first half, and at one stage led 7-3 after an intercept try from wing Tegan French in the 25th minute, converted by first- five Alana Thomas.
New Zealand bounced back with Hohepa's first try in the 35th minute to go to the break 8-7 ahead, but could count themselves lucky after an uninspiring 40 minutes.
The second half was a different story, with the Ferns gaining the upper hand in the set pieces and starting to create holes out wide as the Australians ran out of steam. Ferns halfback Anna Jensen and Thomas traded penalties early in the half, and it was another Hohepa try out wide beating two players with speed and an outside swerve that took the homeside out to a 16-10 lead and threatening to break away.
Replacement Ferns wing Fa'anati Aniseko (Auckland) scored a try with her first touch six minutes later to make it 21-10, as Australia desperately defended their line. Wallaroos coach Steve Hamson was happy with his side's performance, considering their limited preparation and a number of new faces in the side.
"To turn up today and give them the run that we did, we're very proud." He said the Wallaroos had learned from last year's World Cup campaign that they had world class players, so they now expected not only to be competitive, but to dominate.
"It was probably the first half when we had to defend a lot that told on us in the second half; that's where we struggled, in the back end."
Hamson said the scrum had functioned well but the lineout needed work, and he thought the inside backs could've put more pressure on their opposites in defence.
But the Wallaroos had proved they had the size and speed to match the Ferns, and he expected a big improvement from both sides in Saturday's second test in Wellington. About 2500 people watched the match in fine but windy conditions.