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'I think New Zealand are the ones who are under a lot of pressure'
England prop Sarah Bern believes New Zealand will be feeling the pressure ahead of their showdown in the Rugby World Cup final on Saturday.
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The Black Ferns are a dominant force in the sport, having won four of the last five editions of the World Cup, and Saturday’s contest will be a replay of the 2017 final, where they beat England 41-32.
The Red Roses will be hoping to go one better in front of a sell-out crowd at Eden Park and they come into the game on a remarkable Test-record 30-match winning run, but Bern insists the pressure is all on the defending champions.
“I’m not sure we’re favourites anymore. I can see why but personally, for me, it’s New Zealand’s trophy to defend,” the 25-year-old told PA news agency.
“We’re just coming to challenge them. They’re the ones that are going to be in the stadium, full of New Zealand fans at Eden Park watching them.
“They’re the last world champions, they’ve got a lot of pressure on them. We’re on a good winning streak at the moment, that builds confidence, and we’re ready to battle for it and see if we can take it.
“Personally I think we’re definitely ready, we’ve done everything we possibly could have done, and I think we’ve just got to go out there and give it our best shot.
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“No matter what happens, we want to put on a good performance.
“So for us, we understand people may see us and think ‘we’ve got that 30-game winning streak, we’re the favourites to win’, but I think New Zealand are the ones who are under a lot of pressure at the moment.”
Continuing their impressive winning streak into the World Cup, England finished top of Pool C with three wins from three before beating Australia and Canada to set up a meeting with New Zealand.
Bern was 20 years old when the two teams faced each other in the 2017 final, and believes Saturday will pose another close contest.
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She said: “I think it’s a confidence in ourselves that we know we can put on a good show and will 100 per cent give it our best. We’re just going to continue what we’ve been doing for the past 30 games and attack it as best we can.
“We know it’s going to be a challenge, we know it’s going to be a close one – it’s not going to be a runaway storm.
“We know it’s going to be a fight and when I say we’re confident, we’re ready to fight, we’re ready to battle.”
After a stellar year of women’s sport, Bern is hopeful that the momentum behind women’s rugby can continue in the build-up to a home World Cup in 2025, whatever the result on Saturday.
She said: “We’ve generated so much momentum this year. With our Autumn Series, Sandy Park was sold out a few times, in our Six Nations as well we had a huge sell-out crowd.
“Even when we played France away, in front of 20,000 people, you can really feel viewing figures are going up. To get so many people watching us on the telly as well has been a gamechanger.
“I really hope we can continue that momentum leading into our Six Nations and into the home World Cup. Women’s football really took off with the Euros and they managed to sell out Wembley, so I definitely think it’s a realistic goal for us to sell out Twickenham in the home World Cup.”
:: Sarah Bern is an ambassador for Wooden Spoon, the children’s charity of rugby who fund life-changing projects across the UK and Ireland. The charity aims for every child and young person to have access to the best life opportunities, regardless of their background, through the power of rugby. Visit woodenspoon.org.uk
Comments on RugbyPass
Lets compare apples with apples. Lyon sent weak team the week before, but nobody raised an eyebrow. Give the South African teams a few years to build their depth, then you will be moaning that the teams are too strong.
41 Go to commentsDid footballs agents also perform the scout role at some time? I’m surprised more high profile players haven’t taken up the occupation, great way to remain in the game and use all that experience without really requiring a lot of specific expertise?
1 Go to commentsSuper rugby is struggling but that has little to do with sabbaticals. 1. Too many teams from Aust and NZ - should be 3 and 4 respectively, add in 2 from Japan, 1 possibly 2 from Argentina. 2. Inconsistent and poor refereeing, admittedly not restricted to Super rugby. Only one team was reffed at the breakdown in Reds v H’Landers match. Scrum penalty awarded in Canes v Drua when No 8 had the ball in the open with little defence nearby - ideal opportunity to play advantage. Coming back to Reds match - same scrum situation but ref played advantage - Landers made 10 yards and were penalised at the breakdown when the ref should have returned to scrum penalty. 3. Marketing is weak and losing ground to AFL and NRL. Playing 2 days compared with 4. 4. Scheduling is unattractive to family attendance. Have any franchises heard of Sundays 2pm?
10 Go to commentsAbsolutely..all they need is a chance in yhe playoffs and I bet all the other teams will be nervous…THEY KNOW HOW TO WIN IM THE PLAYOFFS..
2 Go to commentsI really hope he comes back and helps out with some coaching.
1 Go to commentsI think we are all just hoping that the Olympic 7s doesn’t suffer the same sad fate as the last RWC with the officials ruining the spectacle.
1 Go to commentsPersonally, I’ve lost the will to even be bothered about the RFU, the structure, the participants. It’s all a sham. I now simply enjoy getting a group of friends together to go and watch a few games a year in different locations (including Europe, the championship, etc). I feel extremely sorry for the real fans of these clubs who are constantly ignored by the RFU and other administrators. I feel especially sorry for the fans of clubs in the Championship who have had considerable central funding stripped away and are then expected to just take whatever the RFU put to them. Its all a sham, especially if the failed clubs are allowed to return.
9 Go to commentsI’m guessing Carl Hayman would have preferred to have stayed in NZ with benefit of hindsight. Up north there is the expectation to play twice as many games with far less ‘player management’ protocols that Paul is now criticising. Less playing through concussions means longer, healthier, careers. Carter used as the eg here by Paul, his sabbatical allowed him to play until age 37. OK its not an exact science but there is far more expectations on players who sign for Top 14 or Engl Prem clubs to get value for the huge salaries. NZR get alot wrong but keeping their best players in NZ rugby is not one of them. SA clubs are virtually devoid of their top players now, no thanks. They cant threaten the big teams in the Champions Cup, the squads have little depth. Cant see Canes/Chiefs struggling. Super has been great this year, fantastic high skill matches. Drua a fantastic addition and Jaguares will add another quality team eventually. Aus teams performing strongly and no doubt will benefit with the incentive of a Lions tour and a home RWC. Let Jordie enjoy his time with Leinster, it will allow the opportunity for another player to emerge at Canes in his absence.
10 Go to commentsLove that man, his way to despise angry little men is so funny ! 😂
4 Go to comments“South African franchises would be powerhouses if we had all our overseas based players back in situ. We would have the same unbeatable aura the Toulouses, Leinsters or Saracens of this world have had over the last decade or so.” Proof that Jake white does not understand the economics of the game in SA. Players earning abroad are not going to simply come back and represent the bulls. But they might if they have a springbok contract.
22 Go to commentsA lot of fans just joined in for the fun of it! We all admire O'Gara and what he has done for La Rochelle
4 Go to commentsThe RFU will find a way to mess this up as usual. My bet is there will be no promotion into the the Premiership, only relegation into National League One. Hopefully they won’t parachute failed clubs into the league at the expense of clubs who have battled for promotion.
9 Go to commentsWell that’s the contracts for RG and Jordie bought and paid for. Now, what are the chances we can persuade Antoine to hop over with all the extra dosh we’ll have from living at the Aviva & Croke next season…??? 🤑🤑🤑
35 Go to commentsWow, that’s incredible. Great for rugby.
35 Go to commentsYou probably read that parling is going to coach the wallaby lineout but if not before now you have.
14 Go to commentsIf someone like Leo Cullen was in O’Gara’s place I don’t hear Boo-ing. It’s not just that La Rochelle has hurt Leinster and O’Gara is their Irish boss. It’s the needle that he brings and the pantomime activity before the game around pretending that Munster were supporting LaRochelle just because O’Gara is from Cork. That’s dividing Irish provinces just to get an advantage for his French Team. He can F*ck right off with that. BOOOOO! (but not while someone is lying injured)
4 Go to commentsDid the highlanders party too hard before the game? They were the pits.
1 Go to commentsWhat a player! Not long until he’s in the England side, surely?
5 Go to commentsHe seems to have the same aura as Marcus Smith - by which I mean he’s consistently judged as if he’s several years younger than he actually is. Mngomezulu has played 24 times for the Stormers. When Pollard was his age he had played 24 times for South Africa! He has more time to develop, but he has also had time to do some developing already, and he hasn’t demonstrated nearly as much talent in that time as one would expect. If he is a generational talent, then it must be a pretty poor generation.
6 Go to commentsThe greatest Springbok coach of all time is entirely on the money. Rassie and Jacques have given the south african public a great few years, but the success of the springbok selection policy will need to be judged in light of what comes next. The poor condition that the provincial system is currently in doesn’t bode well for the next few years of international rugby, and the insane 2026 schedule that the Boks have lined up could also really harm both provincial and international consistency.
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