'Courageous': Whitney Hansen reflects on heartbreaking Red Roses defeat

One moment separated the Black Ferns and England at Allianz Stadium on Sunday morning, when Amy Du’Plessis’ pass found Zoe Harrison instead of a teammate in black.

For 80 minutes, the two best teams in the world went toe-to-toe in front of 59,000 fans in London, but it wasn’t enough for the Kiwis as John Mitchell’s side extended their unbeaten streak to 40 matches.

Whitney Hansen’s Black Ferns led the contest 12-7 at halftime, thanks to five-pointers from Du Plessis and Ayesha Leti-I’iga, while Claudia Moloney-MacDonald opened the scoring for the home side in the 14th minute.

The ever-present Ellie Kildunne levelled the scores shortly after halftime, before a yellow card from Veisinia Mahutariki-Fakalelu changed the complexion of the second 40 minutes.

Reflecting on the tight Test match, Hansen told reporters in London that she was proud of her side’s effort, mentality, and work rate for the whole 80 minutes.

“Yeah, I thought, to be really honest, the biggest feeling I am feeling at the moment is proud. We’re an amazing group of people, management and athletes, who work really hard, and who are on the beginning of a journey of what Black Ferns rugby looks like,” Hansen said.

“We always said this week was going to be a real test for us. It was going to draw a line in the sand. It was going to give us some things and show us how we’re special, how we’re built different.

“Those watching the game today saw that it was exciting. People can’t stay with us when we do it, but it also was going to be a Test that was going to tell us where we need to be better, and that’s it’s an exciting space to be in for those learnings.”

The 39-year-old head coach admitted her side were “chasing a performance”, especially against the benchmark of Women’s rugby.

“Everyone wants to win. I don’t think anyone sort of does it because they like losing, but for us, it’s about chasing a performance. We know we’ve got greatness in us. We’re chasing that, and we’ll continue to sort of be humble and hungry in that journey.

“What an opportunity to talk about courage. We didn’t want to come out to draw; we wanted to come out to perform to win. So look, I think you got to back that courage from Amy du Plessis; she saw the space and she sent the pass and didn’t come off that time, but if it did, it’s a different story, it’s a different headline.

“Happy with how courageous we played. I think there’s still going to be things that we go back and look at in the moments that we didn’t finish.

“We’ve got to be able to do that [be clinical] 90 per cent of the time or more. So we’ll look at those, and I think look at where our gains have been, and look at where else we can be better.”

Hansen was full of praise for standout Black Ferns right-winger Mererangi Paul, who impressed throughout the WXV contest, highlighted by her sharp finish to keep the Kiwis in the contest with ten minutes to play.

“Yeah, look, one of many standouts for us, right? She’s got phenomenal footwork,” Hansen said.

“She’s pretty special on the edge defensively, and I think we’re just seeing her going from strength to strength.”

The Black Ferns will return home to take on France in a three-Test series to close out the 2026 WXV Global Series.