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Bunting’s verdict after Black Ferns score eight tries to start World Cup
By Finn Morton reporting from York
New Zealand started their title defence at the Women’s Rugby World Cup with a one-sided 54-8 win over Spain on Sunday, but Allan Bunting has called for improvement from the Black Ferns ahead of pool stage matches against Japan and Ireland.
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After an error-riddled start to the Test, the Black Ferns eventually took the lead when Jorja Miller sliced through the defensive line to score the opener in the 12th minute. Miller completed a double soon after, before Liana Mikaele-Tu’u crossed for a try later in the half.
New Zealand entered Spain’s 22 seven times during the opening 40 minute period, but the firm favourites only came away with three tries. Spain had been tackling at below 80 per cent too, but the Black Ferns only led by 18 points going into the half-time sheds.
It was a different story after the break, with the Black Ferns running in another five tries, but the team’s first half performance was a talking point post-match – as Director of Performance Bunting highlighted when asked about New Zealand’s performance.
“Good to see our ladies get out there and play, chuck the ball around a little bit,” Bunting told reporters 30 minutes after full-time.
“We probably overplayed a little bit in the first half. But you can’t knock them for their intent out there. We just need to be a little bit more clinical.”
New Zealand’s performance in the second half had fans cheering from the edge of their seats, scoring five tries to one. Ayesha Leti-I’iga crossed for a double, scoring either side of Georgia Ponsonby’s effort in the 49th minute.
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Portia Woodman-Wickliffe, who was the top-ranked women’s player in RugbyPass’ Top 50, came on with about 30 minutes left as a popular replacement. Woodman-Wickliffe enjoyed some strong carries down the right edge and was later rewarded with a five-pointer.
Renee Holmes broke down the field before passing the ball off to Woodman-Wickliffe, who still had plenty of work to do. The two-time Olympic gold medallist placed the ball down in the 61st minute, which gave the New Zealanders a commanding 45-3 advantage at the time.
“She’s a special player who’s there for the team and we know when we put her on she’s going to do something special,” Bunting said about Woodman-Wickliffe.
“Yeah, it was awesome, we wanted to be intense and have a (good) mindset and our ladies certainly delivered that. Once we got our bodywork right it opened up more opportunities for us,” he explained when asked about Spain’s performance.
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“Spain are a good team and have got a lot of passion. I knew they were going to throw the kitchen sink at us, and respect to them. It was pretty good how we started and we’ve got lots to build off of that.”
New Zealand have passed their first Test at the Rugby World Cup, but they have another tough challenge ahead of them, set to face a rapidly-improving Japan side at Exeter’s Sandy Park on Sunday afternoon.
The Black Ferns will round out pool play with a blockbuster showdown with Ireland, who got the better of the New Zealanders in WXV 1 last year. Ireland face Spain at Northampton’s Franklin’s Gardens on Sunday.
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