1
How the 'Black Ferns legacy' inspired 'dream' RWC final win
World Cup winner Theresa Fitzpatrick said the Black Ferns played for the “really special” legacy of the jersey in Saturday’s final, and the players who paved the way for their ground-breaking achievement.
ADVERTISEMENT
The Black Ferns inspired the nation throughout their epic run at their home World Cup, which ended with an incredible 34-31 upset win over England at Eden Park yesterday.
With rugby guru Wayne Smith coaching the team, the Black Ferns were able to complete a fascinating tale of redemption with the win in front of more than 40,000 supporters.
The World Cup decider came down to the wire, and while England had a chance to potentially steal the match at the end, the Black Ferns held on to end the Red Roses’ 30-Test unbeaten streak.
Speaking after the final, star inside centre Fitzpatrick spoke about the legacy of the Black Ferns and how much of a motivator and influence that is for the playing group.
“The Black Ferns legacy is really special. The past players who have worn the jersey before us have paved the way for us to be able to play and for us to be able to play in front of a crowd like we did tonight,” Fitzpatrick told RugbyPass.
“It wouldn’t be possible if they didn’t pave that pathway for us.
“We played a little bit for them too. We’ve got the Black Ferns crest on our hearts, and we take every single person who’s been with in it with us on the field.”
ADVERTISEMENT
The Black Ferns started their World Cup title defnece at Eden Park against rivals Australia – but things didn’t go to plan right away.
Australia raced out to an early 17-nil lead which left the Auckland crowd stunned, but the Black Ferns rallied to win quite comfortably in the end.
New Zealand scored 209 points during their first four matches at the World Cup, before facing France in the semi-finals.
The Black Ferns had lost to France twice by emphatic scores during their Northern Tour last November, but the form book went out the window in front of a passionate New Zealand crowd.
ADVERTISEMENT
With the country behind them, the women in black held on a tough one-point win – bringing back memories of the All Blacks’ win over Les Bleus at the World Cup 11 years earlier.
But a final against World No. 1 England was always going to be another step up, and after going behind my two converted tries early, it seemed like the Red Roses were ready to run away with it.
A red card to Lydia Thompson inside the first 20 minutes was a game changing moment for both teams – with New Zealand eventually taking the lead early in the second half.
The World Cup came down to the final moment of the Test, the last to win it all for both teams, and it was the home side who hung on.
Their sixth World Cup title. ??????
Remarkable.#RWC2021 #BlackFerns pic.twitter.com/tcexyzh8hT
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) November 12, 2022
“It’s still sinking in, it’s still sinking in. I’m just so proud of the girls, so proud of the team and just a big, huge thank you to everyone that supported us throughout the campaign.
“We couldn’t have done it without the support of our nation so just really, really happy.
“They got us through a few of the moments in the game. To hear the Black Ferns being chanted at Eden Park, at a sold-out stadium, it was like a dream. It was like a dream playing out there.”
As for the Red Roses, it’s the second consecutive World Cup final they’ve lost to the Black Ferns after they were beaten in Belfast five years ago.
England star Emily Scarratt said the Red Roses showed “a hell of a lot of heart” to stay in the fight after Thompson was red carded in the 17th-minute.
“I thought we managed parts of it really, really well. Considering the threat they posed out wide and obviously having lost a winger, I thought we dealt with it really well at times,” Thompson told RugbyPass.
“Not all the time but that’s probably an inevitability given (we were) down to 14 players.
“There was a hell of a lot of heart shown out there by the girls. It’s never easy playing that long with one player, less against such a quality side.
“All credit to them they pulled through when it mattered and we just came up a little bit short.”
Comments on RugbyPass
The Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
3 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
3 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
3 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
30 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
3 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusaders , you can keep going.
3 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
30 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
30 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
30 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to comments