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Black Ferns lose Amy du Plessis for remainder of Rugby World Cup
By Finn Morton
Black Ferns centre Amy du Plessis will play no further part in the 2025 Women’s Rugby World Cup after suffering a shoulder injury, with the team confirming this significant squad update on Friday afternoon.
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Du Plessis sustained the injury during New Zealand’s opening-round 54-8 win over Spain at York Community Stadium, although the midfielder was initially set to return in Saturday’s quarter-final against South Africa in Exeter.
Director of Performance Allan Bunting had selected du Plessis on the bench, with Kaiapo Olsen-Baker also named for a comeback appearance. Olsen-Baker has also suffered an injury during the pool stage clash with Spain.
The Black Ferns released a team update ahead of their second-ever clash with the Springbok Women, which confirmed Du Plessis’s tournament was over. Du Plessis will remain in England to continue her rehabilitation, with an injury replacement set to be announced shortly.
Katelyn Vahaakolo has been called into the matchday 23 to take on South Africa. Vahaakolo has made one other appearance at this Rugby World Cup, scoring a try as the New Zealanders ran away with a comfortable win over Japan a fortnight ago.
Theresa Setefano and Stacey Waaka will form their experienced midfield combination against the Boks, three years after the pair played a key role in New Zealand’s run to the World Cup crown on home soil.
Portia Woodman-Wickliffe and Braxton Sorensen-McGee have been named on the wings, with Sorensen-McGee scoring back-to-back hat-tricks in her last two appearances. Renee Holmes has retained her spot at fullback after an impressive performance against Ireland.
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“This match against South Africa means a lot to us, it’s a final, we are also aware of what this game means to South Africa. We have selected our strongest available 23,” Bunting said in a statement earlier this week.
“It’s also important to mention the fans who travel near and far to support the Black Ferns, including our whanau (family). We feel and appreciate the continuous support for our wahine (women).”
This will be South Africa’s first-ever Women’s Rugby World Cup quarter-final, after they secured their spot in the last eight with wins over Brazil and Italy. While they fell short against France last weekend, they pose an unfamiliar challenge to New Zealand’s women’s side.
Tickets are still available for the Women’s Rugby World Cup quarter-finals and can be purchased HERE.
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The Black Ferns ran away with a 55-3 win over the Springbok Women in their only other meeting, which was back at the 2010 Rugby World Cup. For all players, including HSBC SVNS Series star Jorja Miller, this presents an exciting opportunity.
“We’re really going to have to front up against South Africa, they’re very physical and we’ve seen the split on the bench so we know it’s going to be a tough fight for the full 80,” Miller explained.
“If they’re physical they may not be as agile or as fast, so I’ll be focusing on using my abilities and my strengths to get around that.
“Physicality is one of our strengths as well. We’ve got one of the strongest, toughest packs in the World Cup, so we’ve analysed how physical they are but at our training it’s about us, and getting the reps in through the week so we front up on Saturday.
“We’re building from last weekend and just making sure we stand on our own DNA, because if we can execute that well we should be able to execute a really good performance.”